Fullmetal High School
by Fantasy Fan Girl
Summary: Everyone is tired of Ed and Winry not realizing they are perfect for each other. Their Junior year of HS it's not completely normal with school work, the Alchemy team yes, there is Alchemy , cuteness, and more. EdxWinry RoyxRiza and AlxOC.
1. Chapter 1 Before School

This is my first fic ever and I hope you like it. Although now I have gone back and revised this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, but I do have it on DVD.

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**Chapter 1**

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP 

SLAM!

Edward Elric just broken his newest alarm clock

"unn" Edward Elric's moaned as he turned over and tried to go back to sleep.

"Brother. Brother!" WHAM! Edward's door was thrown open by no other than his little brother Alphonse.

"Brother!" Al rushed over to Ed's bed and started shaking him trying to wake him up. Of course he was already completely dressed and ready for school, besides breakfast. His hair was short and combed and he had on a plain grey shirt and jeans with a black belt. "You really don't need to be late to your first day of your junior year in High School"

"Go away Alphonse" Edward mumbled in his sleep. "I'm not going anywhere today"

Al sighed, "Well, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." Al reached down and pulled all the coverings off of the bed. Of course the result was Ed falling out of bed on to the hard wood floor.

"I'm gonna kill you Al!" the older Elric yelled.

Al knew better than to stay any longer in that room, so without waiting for Ed to go good on his threat, Al ran downstairs as quick as he could.

Ed ran after him, screaming his head off about how much pain Al was in for.

What Ed didn't expect was to come flying down the stairs and run straight into non other than Winry.

"Ooof, Ed what are you..." Winry stopped as she started to full comprehend a very mad Ed on top of her with only his boxers on. It was quite apparent that he wasn't quite ready for school yet and had just woken up. Winry's cheeks went pink. As did Ed's when he realized what had just happened. _When did her eyes get to be so pretty?_ _Wait where did that thought come from?_

"Um Ed, do you think you could get off of me?" Ed blushed more as he realized that he hadn't moved since he had landed on Winry.

"Oh sorry Winry" Ed quickly jumped to his feet and put out a hand to help Winry up.

Winry's slight blush in her cheeks had just started to go down when suddenly a hand was in front of her face. She jumped slightly as she looked up to see a very cute, uncomfortable, and grinning Ed with only boxers on and his other hand behind his head scratching his neck.

The blush grew back in her cheeks though as she realized that she had just called Ed cute in her head. She took his hand though and he helped her to her feet.

"Thanks Ed" but before she had even finished thanking him, he was already running up the stairs completely forgetting about Al and just focusing on getting ready for school as quickly as possible.

Winry sighed as she turned around to better greet Al, who when she had come in the two boy's small house, had ran right past her without any explanation. Now she looked at his face which seemed to have an all knowing expression on it.

"What?" Winry asked hoping that the blush had left her face or that Al or Ed hadn't noticed it.

"Nothing" Al said as he smiled and walked past Winry into the apartment's very small kitchen. She turned and followed him.

"So what was that all about when I came in?" Winry asked letting her curiosity get the best of her.

"Oh that, well brother wasn't awake and I woke him up" Al smiled at Winry as he put two pieces of bread in the toaster, "If I hadn't woken him up we would have all been late to school, and I don't want to be late on my first day of my sophomore year."

Winry sat down at the Elric's table and just shook her head at Al. She knew how hard it was to wake up Edward, after all she had know him and his brother all of her life. She also knew that Al was none too gentle about waking Ed up, as he had tired over the years of being nice to wake up his older sibling. "Next time just let me wake him up, ok."

"Ok Winry." Al agreed immediately.

At that moment Ed decided to appear fully dressed and ready for school. He was wearing a plain black shirt with a red coat over it and black jeans with a brown belt. His hair also was combed but seemed a little more wild than Al's. Plus he was wearing his standard white gloves. "Let's go!" he exclaimed and Winry looked at him and cocked an eyebrow at him asking a question without saying a word. _Aren't you forgetting something? _"What am I forgetting?!" Ed demanded annoyance starting to creep into his voice.

The toast popped up and Al grabbed both pieces and tossed one to Ed who caught it easily. "Oh, breakfast." Ed stated calmly and then he grinned at Winry before proceeding to take a bite out of his toast.

"Aren't you going to have some milk with that Ed?" Winry asked sweetly knowing fully well her friend's dislike for the drink.

Ed looked at her with a face of disgust and simply walked over to the fridge before speaking. "No, we don't even keep that kind of crap here, but I will have some orange juice" and with that he poured himself and Al both glasses while holding his toast in his mouth. Then he began asking Al where all of their school supplies were.

Winry took this moment to reflect on the two brothers and think about how much they had changed.

Al had always seemed like a little brother to Winry. Probably because she had know him since he was a baby. Now though he was taller than Winry, as he had just shot past her this last summer. It was a little strange to have to look up to talk to him now, still Al had pretty much stayed the same over the years. He was still very innocent and kind to everyone.

Ed could never be considered a brother really but more of Winry's best friend, he on the other hand had changed a lot through the years. First of all he had also gotten taller than Winry, she remembered how for years he was shorter than her, and then it was like one day he was taller than her. Now he grinned a lot but Winry hadn't seen a real smile from him for a long time. Somehow he had become very determined to do his best, and pushed himself so hard that on several occasions had collapsed while practicing Alchemy. After the car accident last year that the Mr. and Mrs. Elric had died in, Edward had become very protective of his little brother. But who could blame him.

Now Ed was working even harder to be the top of his class and to take care of Al, although sometimes Al had to remind Ed to take care of himself. However, Ed was doing an amazing job being that he was only 17, although 18 soon. With the money that he received every month from the government Ed found a way to pay all of the Elric's bills and still keep up taking care of his right arm.

As Winry watched Ed lift his glass to his lips with his right hand, she found it hard to believe that under that glove Ed didn't have a real arm, but a mechanical one that was hooked to his sensors in his body. It had happened in the accident. Winry was amazed by what modern science could do. She didn't quite understand the procedure completely, but she could perform it as she often assisted her grandmother in her automail shop often. She wanted to be a mechanic that could make Ed a better hand, an arm that let him do even more.

"Hey, Winry" Winry looked up to see Ed and Al waiting at the door with backpacks on looking at her with curious expressions on their faces. "You coming?" Ed asked.

"Yeah" Winry snapped up and grabbed her over the shoulder bag as she headed out the door with her two best friends, as they started walking to school.

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So I went back and reread this chapter and found silly mistakes and bad wordings, so I fixed it to be hopefully better. 

At this point I am going to post Chapter 8 soon, but as I was writing it I needed to go back and reread some stuff and I saw too many mistakes and mishaps in this chapter to ignore.

Please review, I love feedback.


	2. Chapter 2 Walking to School

So I don't know how to change a chapter I've already posted, so if you know how to, then review this chapter and inform me. Until then I can't put an author's note in Chapter one, and I really want to, so please help me. Plus I know that I made several typos in Chapter one that I want to fix.

Ok now that I've said that I can write my a/n for this Chapter. To explain this world would be to say that the FMA cast lives in our world, but in our world there is automail and alchemy. What's the difference between their world and ours then? Well the normal school would be it really, I think. Honestly maybe the schools work like this in FMA, I'm not really sure.

OMG. I posted this chapter two days ago and already I got a review. If you could see me right now, you would see a girl who is having a very hard time typing this because she is shaking with excitement. My sister thinks I am crazy because I just dragged her downstairs to see my review. Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! ( that's the sound I am making out loud, although only because no one else is around.) Thank you so much **rockerprincess1771**. You are awesome!!!!!! This chapter is so dedicated to you for making my day. If you haven't realized it yet this is my first fic ever. So I'm a little excited. Anyway on with the next Chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, to be on the safe side. (If there is a safe side.) (Why did I just type that?) (I don't know. If you haven't realized it yet, I am a very strange person.)

**Chapter 2**

Winry, Ed, and Al had walked to high school ever since they had stared, being that Winry lived in the apartment right next to Ed and Al, and they were all within a half mile of their high school. (a/n: sorry but I messed up in chapter 1 and Ed and Al live in an apartment, sorry again)

Winry turned to look at Ed and Al as Al told Ed about this new class he was taking in school this year. She smiled as she noticed that intentionally they had gotten in the order that they always walked in.

Al was on the left, on the side nearest to the shops and apartment buildings. Ed was in the middle just a little back so that they could all fit on the sidewalk, and as for herself, Winry was on the right nearest to the street.

She also noticed how Ed and Al were both acting. As usual Al was his chipper self, with a smile on his face. Although today he was talking a bit more than usual, as he was probably just excited about his first day of school and that new class he was taking.

"It's this new Biology class that focuses directly on animals and how their bodies work and stuff. They say that if your going into any field close to being a veterinarian than you should really take the course." Winry heard Al say, as he continued to ramble on about how excited and beneficial it would be for him.

Then Winry's eyes darted to look at her long time friend, Ed.

Ed looked as if he wasn't really listening to what his brother was saying, as his eyes were constantly dodging around sucking in all that was going on around them.

Winry sighed. Ever since the Elric's accident, Ed had become much more aware of what was going on all the time everywhere.

Winry closed her eyes and gently shook her head. She knew that it didn't bother Al when Ed wasn't looking at him while he spoke, after all both of them knew that Ed was really listening to his brother, but sometimes she felt as if he wasn't really listening to her when she was talking. Especially this last summer.

More than once Ed had gotten this far off strange disgruntled looking expression on his face while talking to her. Most of the time Winry would just pull out her wrench and give Ed a nice Whak! on the head.

Winry opened her eyes only to find a pair of golden brown eyes looking right at her.

She gasped and pulled back, stepping a few steps back right unfortunately into the busy street.

"Winry!" both of the Elric brothers shouted at the same time as she stepped into the street and several honks could be heard.

Quick as a flash Ed's arm reached out and he grabbed Winry pulling her back onto the curb and into his arms unintentionally with her hands on his chest and her arms around his waist.

"You ok Winry?" Ed asked with worry in his voice as he pulled her even closer to himself without realizing.

Winry looked up and met Ed's golden eyes with her own blue ones. Her face flushed red as she tried to pull away from him and once again into the street on accident.

Ed felt her try to pull away though and only gabbed her tighter as to not let her fall back into the street. "Whoa. Wait a second Winry. Lets not let you back up into the street again."

Winry mentally slapped herself. How could she be so dumb as to back into the street that she just was pulled out of.

Ed turned taking Winry with him and setting her down when his back was toward the street. Winry's face still was red from the close contact she had just been having with Ed.

"Wow Winry, are you ok?" the question had been repeated, although this time it had been asked by Al.

Winry simply nodded, not sure if she could form any real words with her mouth.

"Really Winry, because your face looks really red. You must have been really scared." Ed said without thinking.

Winry looked to the ground as one of her hands clenched into a fist and the other started to reach for something.

"Brother." Al said

"Yeah Al" Ed replied not noticing the fuming girl beside him.

"I think you should run Brother." Al said as he looked at Winry.

"Why would I need to…" WHAM!

"What was that for!?" Ed yelled as he rubbed the new bruise on his head.

"Never call me a COWARD!" shouted back Winry very close to Ed's face.

For a minute or two Ed and Winry kept this position with scowls on their faces as they looked very closely at each other, and Al was just looking nervous off to the side.

"Hey Fullmetal!"

Ed turned to the street as he heard his nickname from school get called out. There in a shiny new black sports car was the rival/good friend of Ed, Roy Mustang.

"Maybe if you weren't so short you could get your girlfriend to stop beating you up." Roy yelled as he sped away to school.

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT THEY CAN'T EVEN BE SEEN UNDER A MICROSCOPE!!!!" Ed yelled back louder than ever.

Winry on the other hand could only blush and look down at the ground from Roy's "girlfriend" remark.

"Hey Winry are you alright" Al asked as she was looking sown once again.

At hearing Al, Ed stopped making his speech about how he had grown taller since last year, and he turned around to see why Al was asking Winry that.

"Yeah Winry, your face is all red again." Ed added upon looking at her.

Needless to say Ed would be supporting a few more bruises by the time they got to school.

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So how did you all like this chapter? Tell me what you think. If you have any suggestions then tell me. I've got a ton of ideas floating around in my brain, but now I have to think though each of them and figure out what exactly I want to do.

So if you want to, push the button and let me get all excited again, as one review had me jumping off of the walls in my house.


	3. Chapter 3 Talking with Riza

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, however I do own a pair of tap shoes that are worth more than my car. Lol. (I'm completely serious about my tap shoes.)

**Chapter 3**

Ed, Al, and Winry finally made it to school, both Ed and Winry were refusing to look at each other, and Al was walking between the two teens as a sort of barrier between them.

Al sighed as he shook his head. He knew that this fight didn't really mean anything and that his brother and Winry would be speaking to each other in a while as if nothing had happened, but that didn't mean that he wasn't tired of their fighting. _If only they would get together already then they might not fight as much. Naw, they would fight all the same, but they might make up faster._

The three friends entered the student council room, as that was the place that they always met their friends before school, because every single one of them was in student council.

"Ah. So the lovebirds have arrived." Roy blatantly stated.

For what seemed like the millionth time that day, both Winry and Ed had their faces turn bright red.

"Mustang stop teasing them while you still have paperwork to do." Riza said as she set a whole new stack of fresh paperwork on the desk Roy was sitting at.

For some reason over the years the members of student council had begun to call each other by their last names. "Mustang, you're the president of student council now and lots of paperwork comes with the job so get started."

Roy gave Riza a look of disgust. "Hawkeye the school day hasn't even started yet and you're already trying to make me work."

"Well everyone knows that you won't get it all done unless she starts bothering you about it now." Maes Hughes said as he entered the room with Jean Havoc, Heymans Breda, Vato Falman, and Kain Fuery following behind him.

"But before you get too caught up in that paperwork of yours, I have some new pictures to show you!"

"Well, Winry and I are going to take this completed paperwork to the front office." Riza told Hughes. Winry looked up in surprise when she had heard her name, ever since Mustang had made the lovebirds remark she had been trying to get the blush to leave her face.

"But Riza, I may have shown you all my pictures this morning," Winry shot Riza an apologetic look. "but Winry hasn't seen the new pictures of…" Hughes stopped mid sentence as he saw the glare that was showing on Riza's face. "Umm… I'll just show you later." He directed to Winry.

Winry took this moment to give Riza a smile of thanks as she wasn't going to have to listen to Hughes at this moment. Let's face it the guy loved his little sister a little too much.

Then Winry and Riza both quickly scoped up large armfuls of paperwork that had been completed that morning, and quickly left the room as to miss all of Hughes new rant.

The last thing Winry heard as she left was Hughes telling Mustang that he needed to get a girlfriend.

"Hey Riza" Winry confronted her good friend from over the years. "Did you just hear what Hughes said? Why is he telling Mustang to get a girlfriend?"

"Because Hughes got a girlfriend and now he wants his best friend to feel all of the feelings that he's feeling."

"No way," Winry couldn't believe it. "So who's the girl who fell for him?"

"Some girl named Gracia." Riza replied. "She's a senior, but I don't know her that well, besides how Hughes rants, but she seems really nice."

"Well that's good, as long as she can put up with him." Winry said as she shifted the weight of the documents in her arms so as to be able to hold them better. "Say Riza, where did all of this paperwork come from?"

Riza raised an eyebrow at Winry. "The school always gives us a lot of paperwork to do. Why are you asking? You already knew that."

Winry sighed at Riza. "Yes, I already knew that. What I meant was where did all of this complete paperwork come from? I mean we're practically holding a pound of paper each."

"I completed this paperwork this morning." Riza stated as if it was no big deal.

"WHAT?!" Winry looked at Riza in disbelief. "BUT… HOW AND WHY?!"

"Winry, I always do a lot of paperwork. I'm very efficient at it now."

Winry had to admit that it was true. After all being in student council for three years had taught her how to do boring paperwork quickly. "Still, you didn't answer my other question. Why did you do all of this paperwork, and before the school day started too?"

"Well most of it isn't my paperwork."

Winry gave Riza an incredulous look. "It wasn't your paperwork?"

"No most of the paperwork actually is Mustang's"

"WHAT? MUSTANG'S!" Winry was now starting to attract attention.

"Winry, calm down." Riza said calmly, yet it seemed to have the desired affect on Winry, as she realized a few people were looking at her, and so she smiled and began talking to Riza a lot quieter.

"Why were you doing Mustang's paperwork?" Winry asked.

"Because otherwise it wouldn't get done." Riza simply stated.

"Oh" Winry let out a little sound almost in disappointment.

"What was that?" Riza asked when she heard the word and its tone.

"What?"

"You said 'Oh' and you sounded disappointed. What were you thinking?" Riza asked.

_Man, Riza can read me like a book. Now I'll have to tell her what I was thinking. _Winry looked at Riza in defeat. "I thought that you might have, well, maybe, umm."

"Spit it out Winry." Riza said without letting her face betray her curiosity.

"I thought you might have a crush on Mustang." Winry spit out. For the first time ever Winry saw Riza's cheeks go slightly pink, something that was completely unlike Riza. "Do you like him Riza?"

Riza didn't even justify giving Winry an answer to that question. To be honest Riza didn't know the answer to the question as she had never really thought about it. _I'm blushing, could I have fallen for that idiot._ Riza shook her head as if she was going to shake those thoughts out of her head.

"Well I'll drop the subject for now, but I do want to know the reasoning behind your blush later." Winry said looking a little smug with herself.

This was the chance Riza had been waiting for. She had noticed Winry's anger with Ed this morning and her thick blush at Roy's lovebird remark. "So what happened between you and Ed?"

Winry started to choke on nothing, giving Riza the reassurance that she had come to the correct conclusion. "What makes you think anything happened between me and that Alchemy nerd?" Winry asked as soon as she had caught her breath.

"You blushed more than normal when Roy called you tow love birds." Riza stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Winry couldn't help but blush slightly remembering Mustang's comment. Then a look of fear set on her face. "Don't worry. None of the others noticed." _Accept Al._ Riza added in her head, knowing full well what Winry was distressing about. "So what happened?"

Winry sighed and began explaining the morning's events from Ed practically tackling her that morning to calling her scared. She only stopped when they went into the front office and dropped off all of the completed paperwork. Riza listened carefully to everything Winry said picking up at how many times and how bad Winry blushed. _She just has no clue._

As they came back up to the student council room they saw Al and Ed standing talking outside of it, probably trying to avoid Hughes and his pictures. Riza then noticed the automatic smile that formed on Winry's face as she saw the Elric brothers.

Just then the first bell of the day rang and Winry jumped up and started rushing to her first period class pulling Ed with her and leaving Riza and Al outside of the student council room.

"So what's the verdict?" Al asked Riza.

"She's falling for him. It's too bad that she has no idea that she is." Riza smiled at Al sympathetically. "Have any plans for them?"

"Not yet, but we'll see." Al said.

Yaaaaaaaaaaa! I finished this chapter. For some reason I had so much trouble with writing it. I figured out this week a lot of stuff I what to do in the next few chapters, but I was having a hard time with this one. I was getting so frustrated.

I must admit that I'm not sure if this turned out as good as I would have wanted it to be. Tell me what you think. Please give me constructive criticism. Also I want to clear up some things down here, just in case they were a little confusing or you didn't notice them.

First of all when I make the comment on Hughes's sister I just wanted him to be proud of someone like he is in the show with his daughter. I don't think that Hughes had a sister in the show.

Second I want to point out something that I did very subtly that I am very proud of. It's probably me just being weird again. Ok after Riza blushes about Winry's comment on Mustang. Riza refers to Mustang as Roy for the rest of the chapter. Lol. She going to go back to calling him Mustang in the next chapters, but I thought this was clever and cute of me. Oh, who am I kidding, it probably isn't really that cool, but I like it so I hope you do too. And by the way this story is definitely going to be RoyxRiza now.

Also to let you know I'm going to try to update every Friday. Unless I have a dance competition which I do have one coming up soon, so I actually might try to update again this weekend or early on next week.

Also (I like to start my sentence's with that word a lot.) the more reviews I get the more likely I am to be excited with my story and the more I am enjoying my story the faster I will write and thus the more likely I am to update more often. Thus you should review if you want me to write more soon.

(I hope that wasn't too confusing.) (Sometimes I ramble a little, sorry.) (I apologize a lot too, sorry, umm whatever (I scrunch my face up trying to not say sorry again))


	4. Chapter 4 First two periods

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA but I do own a really soft blanket that my sis keeps stealing from me! (True story. She keeps taking it and using it, and I don't just want to take it away from her. Uhhh! How frustrating.)

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**Chapter 4**

Winry could barely hold her excitement in as she waited for class to start. Even though it was her Junior year, AKA the hardest high school year, she was completely excited about this class. After all it was the mechanics automail class. There was only one mechanics automail class at their high school and she was in it.

Winry looked to her right to find Ed sitting next to her sharing a table with her and looking bored.

"Winry. Tell me again why I'm taking this class." Ed said as he turned to face her.

"Because," Winry said with an overly sweet voice "you have an automail arm, and if you didn't take it I was going to hit you with my wrench."

Ed couldn't see that right now her hands were itching to reach for her wrench. "The only reason you got me in this class is because I made you take alchemy and therefore you had to make me do something too."

_Shoot, he remembered. _Winry glared at Ed as her hand fell from her side where she kept her wrench, and although she hadn't openly admitted that Ed had won the argument, Ed could tell that he had. He sat back in his chair and smirked at Winry. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Then the bell rang signaling that first period was starting. Winry immediately sat up straight in her chair, and faced the front to look at the other kids in the class.

It was a small class, Winry counted about twelve kids sitting at the tables. Just then the teacher walked in, or that was who Winry guessed him to be. After all he definitely wasn't a student.

"So that's Mr. Dominic." Winry heard Ed mutter under his breath.

As soon as Ed had whispered these seemingly quiet words Mr. Dominic looked right at him and replied. "Yes I am Mr. Dominic, your teacher. And as your teacher I have assigned seats for all of you."

The class groaned.

_Guess this class won't be as easy as I had hoped it to be. After all now I won't have Winry to make sure that I'm doing everything right. Why did I take this class again? Oh yeah. So that I could make Winry take Alchemy. _Ed couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Winry learning alchemy. Really he was relived that now Winry would get what him and Al spent so much of their time with.

"Edward Elric!" Ed sighed as Mr. Dominic called out his name as he put him in the back of the class. It didn't seem like Winry was going to be anywhere near him. _I guess I'll just have to pay attention in class more than I thought I would have to. Oh well nothing I can do about it,_ and with that Ed took his stuff and set it down on the back row next to the kid sharing the table with him, some kid by the name of Garfiel or something.

Winry's name was the last to be called from the list and as such she was in the very front of the room. She smiled at the girl who sat next to her. It was a darker completed girl who had an automail arm.

Winry smiled at the girl and received a smile in return. "I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name when Mr. Dominic was giving us our seats."

"The name's Paninya, and you are…"

"Winry Rockbell." Winry smiled happy to be getting a new friend on the first day of school. "Oh and I should tell you, that kid in the back there, the one with the automail arm, is my friend Ed."

"The short guy?" Paninya asked.

As Winry sat next to her she couldn't help but smile and be thankful that Ed couldn't hear them. "Yeah, that's the guy, although I wouldn't let him hear you call him that. He's a little sensitive about his height. Plus he isn't really that short."

"Sure, you just keep telling yourself that." Pininya remarked while rolling her eyes.

Just then Dominic cleared his throat and both girls directed all of their attention to their new favorite teacher, as he explained what the class was going to be like and what sort of things they were going to do.

By the end of the lesson both girls had stars in their eyes as they were so excited about class. As well as that, they both had become good friends based on that, of the whole class, they were the only two who seemed to know anything about automail.

The last ten minutes of class Mr. Dominic had let them do anything, although they had to stay in their seats, much to Ed's displeasure. Therefore the girls had gotten to talk more and Winry had been told how Mr. Dominic was the one to make Pininya's automail and that not only did Pininya have an automail arm, but both of her legs were automail as well.

Pininya was just thrilled to know that Winry didn't think she was weird at all with her automail parts. Winry actually seemed to treat her normally, well normal for Winry.

Finally the bell rang and all the students started rushing to their next class. Ed met up with Winry and Pininya right outside the class.

"Wow, he isn't really that short." Pininya remarked looking up at Ed.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ed replied back starting to loose his temper.

"Nothing Ed." Winry said while trying to keep a straight face. "See you later Pininya." And with a wave goodbye Ed walked away with Winry as Pininya hurried to her next class.

"So Pininya Huh?" Ed asked.

"Yeah she's really cool. She loves automail just as much as I do." Winry said.

"Great, another mechanic freak."

"What did you just say?" Winry questioned as she flipped out her wrench.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Ed replied while shaking his hands in front of himself.

"That's what I thought. Bye Ed." Winry waved as she walked into her English class.

"See you later Winry." And with that Ed walked off to his next class.

As Winry turned to her English class she was relived to see a friendly face with an empty seat beside her. "Sheska! Wow it's been a long time since I've seen you."

"Oh hey Winry." replied the glasses wielding friend.

"So what did you do this summer?" Winry asked as she sat in the empty desk beside Sheska.

"I read." She answered simply as she started putting her book that she had been reading away.

"How many?" asked Winry knowing to expect high numbers.

"Well I lost count after a while."

"Wow typical Sheska. I guess I don't have to ask if you read the summer reading assignment." Winry remarked.

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and the filthy air." Sheska quoted.

"You memorized the book again?" Winry asked as she raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"What? I can't help it." Just then the bell rang and the two girls had to stop talking as the period began.

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Hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

By the way another disclaimer Sheska quotes Macbeth in this chapter, and I definitely don't own that. I only used Macbeth, because that's what my English class is reading and I needed a good quote of some type, and I am just too lazy to find a different quote.

Also I know Dominic is Dominic's first name, but for the sake of my story it is more like his last name, so don't get mad at me.

Also I hope Pininya isn't too ooc if she is at all, honestly this is just the way I saw her. Tell me if I'm wrong about anything.

Plus (I didn't want to use also again.) the kid that Ed is sitting next to, Garfiel, is some mechanic that is only in the FMA mangas. I really know nothing about this person, as I have never read the mangas, I just decided to use him instead of having some random name.

Also if you didn't remember I had Ed only loose a hand in the accident, but I decided to go back and change it to loosing his arm like in the show, sorry for the confusion if there is any.

Also sorry for the late update. I said I was going to update yesterday, but I had to dance a lot this week with the upcoming competition, and I ended up writing most of this in one sitting yesterday. I would have just updated it late last night, but I had to take the ACT one last time this morning, so my parents were really bugging me to go to bed. (Annoying Parents.)

Please review. You boost my confidence and if you want another chapter before next weekend then I'm going to need a confidence boost.


	5. Chapter 5 Alchemy class

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, and I do not own Christmas presents for either of my parents, yet.

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**Chapter 5**

Winry at the moment was sitting in a class that was already starting to scare her, Alchemy I.

"So tonight I want you to read chapters one and two in your book" Mrs. Izumi said with such authority in her voice that no one even groaned. "We will quiz over this material next time, and that's all for today's class so you may start reading." And with that as her final statement Mrs. Izumi sat down and began to grade papers. (No one was really sure where the papers came from.)

For a second the class just sat there not moving and not believing that their teacher had stopped lecturing. Most of the class was just sitting there with their eyes wide open in shock. Winry finally understood how Alchemy I was the most dropped class at the school.

_Well if Ed and Al can do it, so can I. _With that, Winry opened her very old book carefully, as it wasn't in the best condition and began to read, or really she began to try to read.

_What the hell does that mean? _Winry was struggling with the hard and tiny text of the large book. _How am I supposed to read this? It hurts my eyes just to look at the text, and I think someone spilt something on my book. Not to mention I don't know what half of these words mean._

For the rest of class everyone struggled with reading the book and no one seemed to have even finished the first page when the bell rang to let them go to their next class.

At the sound of the bell everyone in the class quickly gathered their belongings and hurried out not wanting to stay in that particular class any longer than necessary. Winry was no different than the rest as she hurried out as fast as possible.

In her rush she bumped shoulders with Ed who was just entering the Alchemy room as she excited. "Hey Winry what's up" Ed said seeing Winry's rush. Winry however did not stop to talk to Ed as the only thing on her mind was getting away from that class as quickly as possible.

Ed could only look confused as his best friend ran away from him as fast as possible. _Is she mad at me? I don't remember doing anything to get her mad._ Ed just stood there for a moment looking in the direction that Winry had run off in wonder what was up with her.

"Hello Edward. What, may I ask, are you doing watching everyone in the hallways rush to their classes?" asked a booming voice.

"Huh?" Ed simply put as he turned to see who was talking, he wasn't at all surprised to see Alex Luis Armstrong, better know as Armstrong as he also was in Student Council, standing, well actually posing, right behind him.

"Oh, hi Armstrong. I was just wondering what was up with Winry." Ed answered without really thinking.

"O there is nothing more beautiful than the blooming of new love." Armstrong said with such enthusiasm that Ed almost fell down.

"No wait Armstrong. You're getting the wrong idea. I was just thinking about her, because she ran away from me after I bumped into her." Ed tried to explain as the two of them walked into Izumi's alchemy classroom for their class.

"So she's already running from you and you haven't even asked her out yet?" asked a new voice that Ed would always recognize.

"Mustang what are you doing here?" Ed said with the intent to kill in his voice.

"Silly Ed don't you know. There is only one Alchemy class for people above Alchemy II. Therefore Juniors and Seniors take Alchemy III/ IV together. Didn't you notice that Armstrong's in this class too and he's a senior as well as I am?"

Ed fumed not only at Mustang for being able to point out the obvious, but at himself for not noticing it, unfortunately before he could retort anything back to Mustang, the bell rang and everyone in the class had to sit down quickly.

The class was small as most people couldn't make it that far in the alchemy classes. Especially Mrs. Izumi's classes, which were to be reported as some of the hardest in the country. Only nine kids were in the class. Of the students there Ed recognized four others not including himself.

There was of course Roy Mustang and Alex Luis Armstrong, both seniors, and this would be considered Alchemy IV to them. The only other person who could be considered a student in Alchemy IV was Tim Marcoh_The other five students including me must still be considered in Alchemy III. _Of those five only two were juniors, Ed and some guy named Zolf J. Kimblee. The other three, who Ed didn't know by name, must have started Alchemy classes as sophomores, therefore they were seniors but only in Alchemy III.

"Ok class. Let's get to work" and with that statement Mrs. Izumi started the class with a long and what most would consider a very boring lecture on how difficult alchemy was without transmutation circles. Everyone had quickly whipped out notebooks to copy everything she was saying.

Mrs. Izumi told the class that Alchemy without transmutation circles became possible to one if they had almost died once, although Ed already knew that as he had almost died in that car wreck and now it was possible for him to do Alchemy without transmutation circles. He was also pretty sure that Al would be the same after a little more practice. This was one of Ed's best subjects when it came to Alchemy so he was enjoying the lecture immensely when Mrs. Izumi had to stop due to class being over in five minutes.

"And remember class, after school tomorrow is tryouts for the Alchemy team." Mrs. Izumi said. Everyone in the class looked up in excitement. "Everyone in here is forced to tryout for a grade so I expect to see all of you tomorrow after school in the Gym."

Ed couldn't help but smirk at Mustang and Armstrong. Their favorite thing to do in school was the Alchemy team. The Alchemy team, a team of the four best students in Alchemy overseen by a coach, that would be Mrs. Izumi, they would travel to other schools and spar with other students. It was the most popular sport now a days.

Last year Ed, Mustang, Armstrong, and Basque Grand had made up the Alchemy team, Basque Grand had graduated though and now a new spot was open much to the happiness of the original three as they were hoping Al could make the Alchemy team with them. They had never really liked Basque Grand and would prefer to have someone that they were friends with on the team with them, although some would say that Ed and Roy weren't really friends.

Al however was only in Alchemy II as he was only a sophomore and therefore it could be difficult for him to get on the team. Especially because Ed knew for a fact that Zolf J. Kimblee was dying for a spot on the team. Ed didn't know too much about Zolf besides the fact that he wanted to go into the government with his alchemy like himself and the rest of his friends, and that Kimblee was good at alchemy.

At least the three retuning members of the team wouldn't have to retry out to make it again. Now Ed only had to worry about Al making the team.

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Sorry about the late update. I was getting ready for a dance competition this last weekend. In two weeks six other girls and I learned a tap dance and when we competed it we got first in our category and first overall in the senior division. So in short we did pretty awesome, but at a price of lack of sleep. Plus I couldn't update.

Also I swear that the story is going to get more exciting, but to do that I have to explain a lot of stuff.

Anyway, I'm on Christmas Holiday now and since I don't have school I should have some time to update. Look for the next chapters to come out soon. If I get to it maybe I can update today, that's not very likely though. Hopefully tomorrow I can.

Review: Reviewing is a two way street. Review if you want to receive reviews


	6. Chapter 6 Student Council class

I'm dedicating this chapter to Sora Chan, my only reviewer that had reviewed every single one of my chapters. Although, I thank all the other reviewers as well. You all make me so happy.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, well except a collection of fantasy novels that I keep rereading over and over.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Ed was sitting at his desk in Student Council class, trying not to fall asleep. After all, what could be more boring than paperwork? Most of the time, Student Council wasn't too bad.

First of all, it was good because everyone was allowed to pick their own seats, although both Mustang and Hughes had to sit at the head of the class as they were the president and vice president of Student Council. Everyone else got to choose where they sat.

There were two rows of three desks on each side of the classroom. The order went as follows from left to right: First Row left: empty seat, Sheska, Armstrong, First Row right: Riza, Fuery, Falman, Second Row left: Al, Winry, Ed, Second Row right: Havoc, Breda, Kimblee. There was supposed to be a sophomore representative in the empty desk, but something had messed up and only Al had been elected as a sophomore representative. (Author's note: Sorry if that was confusing, just ignore it if it was.)

Then second there was the fact that they didn't have to do much work for most of the year. Well, Ed didn't have to do much work for most of the year. Those who were officers had to do more work than anyone else. Thus Roy the president of Student Council always had a lot of work to do. Along with Maes the vice president, Riza the secretary, Armstrong the historian, and Havoc the treasurer. It could be easily seen that they had to do a lot more work than everyone else.

Although at the beginning of the year, and at the beginning of the second semester, everyone had a ton of work to do, because of all the new students and people seemed to remember that Student Council existed and therefore they were more likely to send proposals to them.

Then the teachers could also send papers down to Student Council that they didn't want to grade. Thus many a time the members of Student Council would end up grading the papers of their fellow students. Fortunately since today was the first day no papers had been sent by any teachers, yet.

Thus at this moment Ed was looking over student written proposals and suggestions that had misspellings and were terribly written. All he wanted to do was practice sparring with Al in order to get his little brother ready for the tryouts tomorrow.

Ed looked out the window in the Student Council room and sighed. The period had just started and already it was moving at a snail's pace.

"Ed if you don't get started on your paperwork now then you're never going to finish." Winry whispered in his ear as she passed him on her way to Riza's desk. Shivers went up Ed's spine as he felt her breath lightly tickle his ear.

Thank goodness they had already talked about earlier that day. Ed had been terribly relieved to find out that Winry wasn't mad at him, but just wanting to get away from her Alchemy I class.

Of course after Ed had found out about how she was running from the class he had mercilessly teased Winry and the end result had been a new bump on his head. _Why do I always tease her? It always ends with me getting a bump on my head so why on earth do I keep doing it? Wait a second why is Winry going to Riza's desk?_

Ed's head popped up quickly to see what was up with Winry going over to Riza. Sure Riza and Winry talked a lot, but both of them must have realized that they wouldn't really get the chance today with all the paperwork they had. Ed strained his ears to listen to what Winry was saying.

"Hey Riza, I've finished most of my paperwork and I can see that you've finished a lot of yours too, so I was wondering if we could go ahead and take some of it down to the front office?" Winry asked smiling. Ed could tell there was other reasoning behind Winry wanting to go with Riza.

Riza smiled back at Riza. "That would be nice." Then she called out to Sheska. "Hey Sheska, do you want to go take some of your completed papers to the main office?"

"That would be good, I'm starting to get a stack that won't stay up because it's so high." Sheska answered. Winry couldn't help but smile, Sheska always got the most paperwork done of all of them. If they didn't give her a larger stack to begin with than everyone else, then Sheska would probably not have anything to do for half of the period even on busy days like this.

"Let's go then." Riza said and the three female members of student council walked out into the hall with their arms full of papers.

Everyone in the room watched silently as the door closed behind them and then all hell broke loose. Everyone immediately relaxed and stopped working and started talking. Now that the girls weren't there they didn't have to work.

Don't get the wrong impression though, it wasn't that the boys didn't like the girls or anything, they knew very well that without the girls that nothing would get done. The boys just needed a break.

Anyhow, Maes quickly whipped out some pictures of Gracia and his little sister and began practically harassing Roy with them.

Kimblee was off in a corner doing who knows what.

Armstrong was telling Al everything there was to know about the Armstrong family line and at the same time Ed was trying to pull Al away from Armstrong in order to explain what exactly was going to happen in the Alchemy tryouts the next day.

Falman, Breada, Fuery, and Havoc gathered in a tight circle and began making their yearly bet, as the tradition was with the four of them to make one big bet that would last the majority of the year. Hughes would probably join the bet later.

Anyway, back to the girls.

"Riza you know that the boys aren't doing anything in the Student Council room right now. They're all just goofing off." Sheska told Riza and Winry.

"I know Sheska, they think that I don't know but I do. Winry and I have made it tradition to take our papers down to the office in about the middle of the class on the first day of school each year. This way the boys get about ten to fifteen minutes of free time to make that stupid bet and talk without us being there to notice. We took you along this year because we like to take all of the girls with us." Riza answered explaining everything.

"Oh." Sheska said with a bit of surprise. "So next year?"

"Next year you and I will leave the class with our paperwork along with any other girl who happens to be in Student Council, leaving the boys to their own devices for a while." Winry answered Sheska.

"Cool!" was all that Sheska said.

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So I'm pretty proud of myself for writing and posting this chapter all in one day especially after I just posted a chapter yesterday. I'm not going to get a big head though.

Some things about the chapter.

I have the hardest time writing Armstrong. I have no clue why but both chapter 5 and 6 gave me trouble with him, so sorry if he is ooc.

The bet. I am not going to tell you what the bet is. If you want you can guess, as I want to hear your guesses and in my opinion it is pretty obvious. I will however tell you when I am going to tell you what the last bet is. The last chapter. Yes I already have the last chapter planed out. I finally know where I am going with this story, although I still need some little fillers so any ideas you have let me know.

The next chapter will probably be a RoyxRizaish chapter. I'm not completely sure though so I'll try to update soon. I really want to get this written a ton over Christmas break so I'm trying to write a ton.

Also a big shout out to my little sister Nick, (If you want to read more about me- Jo, and Nick- my little sister, you should really check out our profile.) she reads every single one of my chapters checking for my stupid sentences, as I like to make up phrases that don't exactly make sense and would confuse you all if you ever read them.

Wow I just figured out how to use the horizonal lines. I am such an idiot.

Here's how I imagine the desks. Everyone's desk would be facing toward the center. Example Empty and Al's desk would be facing the back of Sheska's and Winry's. If you don't get it, sorry.

Roy Maes

Empty Sheska Armstrong Riza Fuery Falman

Al Winry Ed Havoc Breada Kimblee

**Review! More ReviewsMore Updates**


	7. Chapter 7 Roy and Riza

Here is something new that Nick (my little sister) wants me to start doing at the beginning of each chapter. I'm going to ask a really random question that might not have nothing to do with FMA at all. It's your choice whether you answer me or not. Really it's just something that you can laugh and ponder about in your free time.

Nick's Question: If Ichigo (from Bleach) was gay, who would he end up with, Chad, Uryu, or someone else.

Sorry I just looked at my sister when she randomly said this, while watching one of the first four episodes that our brother got us for Christmas, and I burst out laughing at it.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, but I do have two boxes of Cheez-its. (I love Cheez-its) (Sorry about being random)

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**Chapter 7**

Roy Mustang was sitting in the Student Council room when he should have already been home. After all he had 7th period as an off period and therefore he only had six periods a day. It was too bad that he hadn't finished enough of his Student Council paperwork and now had to stay after school to finish it.

Now he was trying to concentrate on his mind-numbing paperwork with only Hawkeye in the room with him. She had of course volunteered to stay with him as he finished.

Roy looked up at Hawkeye. He had known her for a long time, after all she was the daughter of his mentor on flame alchemy. He watched as she got ahead on her paperwork as he finished up his.

She no longer was that little girl who he used to see in the kitchen of his teacher's house that would help her mother with the dishes. She had grown up and gotten tough. Although he personally hadn't witnessed her skills, he had heard that she was the best gunman in the whole school.

This wasn't really that surprising to Roy as he had seen his mentor use guns on several occasions as he was part of the police force, and he had been quite good with them.

"Excuse me" Riza seemed to be standing right in front of Roy shaking her hand in front of his face. "Mustang!" She yelled right in his ear.

Roy jumped a little in surprise and started to raise his hand to snap, thankfully his gloves were not on. "Mustang, you're never going to get your paperwork done if you don't focus." Riza said now that she had Roy's attention.

"Sorry Hawkeye, maybe you should just go home, I might take a while." Roy told her.

"Sorry Mustang, you aren't going to get rid of me that easily. Besides, you'll never get anything done if I wasn't here to make you." Riza stated matter of fact.

Roy didn't say anything as Riza went back to her desk to sit down and get ahead on her own paperwork.

He really did feel bad, but how could he convince Hawkeye to go ahead and go home. The answer was, he couldn't. He knew how stubborn she could get especially when she was right, and although he would never admit it to her, she was definitely right about him not getting his work done without her making him. It was a pretty well know fact that Roy Mustang hated paperwork with every fiber of his being.

It was then that an idea struck Roy. "Hey Riza, you like guns right?"

Riza looked at Roy with a slightly confused expression on her face. "What exactly are you getting at Mustang?"

"Well, I was thinking that instead of you waiting around here you might want to go practice in the Gym with your guns." Roy said hoping that Riza would like the idea, then he wouldn't feel quite as guilty about making her stay after school, well after school for them.

Riza smiled at Roy. He sometimes really surprised her with how much he cared. Most of they time he just seemed so unconcerned with everything that it was nice to see him as he really was, a caring, nice, cute man. _Wait a second did I just call Roy Mustang cute. Oh well he is kind of cute, but just because I think he is cute doesn't mean that I like like him._

"Thanks Mustang, I think that I'll do that. I didn't get to practice as much as I would have liked this summer." Riza said as she walked to the door grabbing her jacket on her way out. "But just because I'm not in the same room as you doesn't mean I won't check up on you. When the final bell rings letting everyone out of school, I'll be back to check up on your progress." And with that as her final statement Riza walked out of the room leaving Roy to finish his paperwork.

Roy smiled, now he wouldn't feel guilty about making Riza stay, yet he still felt obliged to finish his paperwork. This was perfect. Now he could get to his paperwork, and with that thought he bowed his head and began to work furiously fast though his papers.

Thirty minutes later…

Roy took a deep breath of relief as he finally set down his last piece of paperwork. He could go turn it in to the front office tomorrow. Now all he had left to do is tell Hawkeye that he was finished. Then he could go home. If he hurried then he could get out before everyone else was released from school and rushed the parking lot.

Roy quickly grabbed his coat from the closet by the door of the Student Council room and walked swiftly down the halls of the school to the Gym where Hawkeye should be.

Riza

Riza Hawkeye was smiling. Sure she hadn't practiced as much over the summer break as she had wanted to, thus she knew her aim wouldn't be quite as good as she wanted it to be, but actually she wasn't doing that bad. All of her shots had hit the middle ring on the target, although some had been pretty close to the edge of the circle.

Now that she had been practicing for half an hour much of her natural talent had come back. She changed which target she had been shooting at to a blank target to see how much progress she had made.

Five shoots were fired out of Riza's gun. Only three holes appeared on the target. She clicked the security on her gun.

"Bravo" a voice boomed from the door of the Gym. Roy Mustang clapped and sarcastically commented. "Although you do know that you're supposed to hit the target."

Riza glared at Roy with eyes that could burn. Roy didn't flinch though, because didn't know what she could do to him. "I'd heard that you were good with a gun" Roy commented as he walked toward Riza to get a closer look at her target "but I must have been misinformed." Roy smirked at Riza.

Riza knew that Roy was just teasing her, but he really needed to learn to stop underestimating people. "So you think you could beat me?" Riza asked.

Roy simply smirked at her. "Both you and I know that there's no way I could beat you with a gun, but with alchemy there would be no competition." Then Roy started to walk away to go home until he heard Riza speak.

"Then humor me." Then there was a small click as Riza switched off the security on her gun. "I'll even let you take the first shot Mustang."

Roy Mustang couldn't resist. After all he hadn't practiced for a few days, this would be good exercise for him. "Ok then, but don't say I didn't warn you." As Roy continued he slipped on his gloves. "Same rules as an Alchemy match, Ok, So no permanent damage."

"That's fine with me." Riza replied as she made sure her other gun in her holster was ready for action. She looked up at Roy when she was done. "Ready when you are."

Roy bowed slightly to Hawkeye never breaking eye contact with her as he answered. "Ladies First."

Without warning two shots filled the air near to Roy's head. He ducked quickly and came up speaking. "What was that!?" He exclaimed.

Two more shots were heard. "Stay on your toes Mustang. You never know when I might shoot next." Riza said as she shot off two rounds once again.

This time Roy was ready though. Quick as a flash he had snapped his fingers and incinerated both of Riza's bullets with a large unneeded flame that left behind unnecessary smoke in an attempt to show off.

As the smoke cleared Roy saw her running to his left around him. He quickly snapped his right hand once again. Riza saw it coming from the corner of her eye and at the last possible moment jumped out and dove into a roll. Roy was surprised that she had been able to dodge his flames, but didn't stop to think about it for too long.

Riza had already shot again, this time it was three rounds. Once again Roy melted Riza's bullets with his flames, and then fired at her. She dodged just the same as she had before. Pretty soon they had a pattern down. Riza shoots, Roy explodes bullets, Roy snaps at Riza, Riza dodges to the left, and then repeat.

There were only small differences in the pattern in that Riza always shot different amounts of bullets, sometimes the bullets might make it closer to Roy's head, and sometimes Roy's flames would nip at Riza's ankles never causing any real damage.

Roy was starting to get frustrated though. How much longer was this game of cat and mouse going to last. After all, he wanted to get out of the school before the after school rush. He came up with a plan.

The next time that Hawkeye shot at him, he would snap his other hand causing the flames to surround her through his smoke and make her give up. He gently pulled his other hand out of his pocket ready to snap when it came time to.

Riza shot five rounds at him. It was a lot more than she had normally been doing, but Roy didn't question it. Right after he snapped his right hand to burn the bullets, his left hand followed with a snap that would send out fire to trap Hawkeye.

As the smoke cleared, Hawkeye did not appear to be in his trap. Mustang immediately looked to the left in search of the gunner. He then felt something touch his right side. "Are you looking for me?" a sly voice asked.

Roy knew who it was even before he looked. He raised his arms in defeat. "I have to admit that your pretty good Riza" Roy said for the first time calling Hawkeye by her first name.

Riza looked annoyingly at him. "Maybe, but we both know that you would have beat me if you would have gone all out against me in the beginning." Riza admitted.

Roy beamed at her. Had Riza just in some backwards way complimented him? "Your problem is that you underestimate your enemies." Riza continued "Like for example when you underestimated me just because there was only three holes in my target. If you had looked closer then you would have seen that two of the three holes are slightly larger than the other."

Roy listened to Riza completely as she explained about her target. "The reason for them being larger is that I almost hit the exact same place twice with my bullets." Roy's eyes widened slightly at Riza's statement. Then he smiled at her.

"I guess I won't underestimate you again Riza" Roy told her with complete sincerity.

"See that you don't Mustang." Riza said as she tuned to leave the Gym. She only paused when she heard Mustang speak. "Excuse me what did you say?" Riza asked.

Mustang smiled at her before repeating himself. "Roy, call me Roy, especially when we are outside the Student Council Room. Okay, Riza."

For a second, Riza just looked at Roy curiously before smiling at him. Roy's stomach did a small flip at seeing it. "Alright…Roy" Riza added testing using Mustang's first name. Then Riza quickly turned and walked away in order to hide the sudden blush that was blooming in her cheeks. _Roy._

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So this was my first time ever to write any action and I hope it turned out ok considering a lot of my fic is going to be action in later chapters. Please give me some feedback on how I did. Also be honest if it wasn't good or was confusing at all. I need to know if I should work on action scenes before I get to future action chapters.

Also I ought to tell you that my last chapter was making me really depressed in that I only had one review on it for quite a while. (Actually it wasn't really that long, but it felt like it was because I'm on break and I don't have much to do.) Then on Christmas I got two more reviews that made me so much happier. I was afraid that the new chapters hadn't been that good.

Suddenly I felt the urge to write and thus this chapter was made. Although I would have gotten it up earlier yesterday, but I needed to apply to a college and my parents wouldn't let me do anything until I had.

Then my brother keeps stealing the computer and saying that he is going to get done quickly, but takes about two to three hours every time. How is that Fast! Oh well.

Anyway, sorry to rant to you guys. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Keep reading and reviewing.

Also don't worry about there being EdxWinry fluff. I promise something cute is going to happen in a few chapters.

I haven't quite figured out the next chapter and if it's too short I might just hook it to the beginning of the Chapter nine, or I guess in that case it would be chapter eight. Anyway the chapter that it might get hooked to is going to have some real brotherly moments with Ed and Al. Oh, I'm so excited about writing it! (Wow, am I a really big writing nerd or what?) The chapter after that should have some really cute moments with Ed and Winry.

My equation for updating: Reviews Excitement Inspiration Motivation Working New Chapters.


	8. Chapter 8 Walking Home

Nick's question: How on earth did Pinako get to be so short?

Disclaimer: I know I don't own FMA, and I also know that I am very tired of writing these disclaimers.

Tosh: It's repetitive

Mac: And redundant

Tosh: It's repetitive

Mac: And redundant

Tosh: We certainly are entertaining Mac

Mac: Indubidly Tosh.

(Ok so I got this from Gilmore Girls, which I also don't own, and I am sure it came from something else before Gilmore Girls used it, and I don't own that either. I just thought it was silly, sorry if you don't agree.)

It's New Years Eve and I'm at home writing for FanFiction, while some would say that I have no life, I know the truth. I'm an obsessed nerd! Oh well, I accept the fact that I get obsessed about everything that I like, it's who I am. So on with the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Ed, Winry, and Al were walking home from their first long day of school. All three were pretty worn out from the day, but no one was complaining as overall it had been a pretty good day.

Winry was telling Ed and Al all about the mechanics class her and Ed had started as they walked. "And then he started explaining all the different stuff we are going to do this year. Like one of the projects we are going to start right before the holidays and we're going to work on it for almost the entire year in class."

"Winry, I was there. You don't have to tell me everything about the class." Ed remarked smiling at Winry.

Winry smiled back. "I know you were there," she said as she rolled her eyes at Ed. "Al wasn't though, and I thought he might like to know."

"I don't mind hearing about the class brother." Al said to Ed. "Actually it sounds pretty interesting."

Winry got wide eyed suddenly, "So you're going to take the class next year Al, right?"

Al looked nervous and waved his hands in front of himself "Winry I wasn't saying that!"

Ed couldn't help but laugh. "That's what you get for showing any interest in mechanics Al." Ed continued while looking at Winry, "A mechanic freak trying to con you into taking a mechanics class."

Winry was frowning at Ed. She quickly whipped out her wrench and smacked Ed on the head with it. "That's for calling me a mechanic freak, Alchemy nerd."

"Hey, just because I like Alchemy doesn't make me an Alchemy nerd." Ed retorted as they continued walking down the sidewalk on their way home.

"Well then, aren't you the pot calling the kettle black." Winry remarked back.

"What are you saying Winry? Are you calling me short!?" Ed demanded.

"No! I'm just saying that you calling me a mechanic freak is like… Oh never mind Ed." Winry said throwing her hands up in the air as she gave up on explaining it to Ed.

"Well I don't get what you're saying, how about you Al?" Ed turned to get his brother's opinion. Al wasn't right behind him and Winry though. In their bickering the two had failed to notice that Al had stopped walking with them.

Ed and Winry looked back down the street and saw Al just standing in front of a store staring at it. Ed and Winry looked at each other already forgetting their argument and they ran back down the street to see what was going on with Al.

"Hey Al" Ed yelled as him and Winry drew closer to his little brother. "What's up?"

Al didn't even notice his brother and Winry until they were right next to him and then he smiled at them and simply pointed to the store he had been standing in front of. It was a pet store.

"Al we can't get a pet, we barely have enough money to take care of ourselves, much less a pet." Ed stated.

Winry sighed at Ed. At times he came across as being harsh, because of the way he said things. "If you want Al you can come over to my house and play with Den whenever you want."

"No brother and thanks for the offer Winry but I wasn't asking for a pet." Al said. "Look at the sign in the window." Both Ed and Winry did. It read: HELP WANTED. Then Al walked straight into the store without another look at Ed and Winry.

They looked at each other and then peered into the store after Al. He seemed to have gone up to the cash register and now was talking to the older woman running it. He seemed to be making a good first impression with the lady as she was smiling and talking to him. Then she turned around and left the register alone.

"Did Al just go in there to apply for a job?" Winry asked still looking at Al who was waiting patiently at the cash register.

Ed shook his head as he smiled at his little brother. "I can't believe that Al is getting a job before me." The lady had now come back with a piece of paper for Al.

"So you're okay with Al getting a job." Winry asked curiously. Al now seemed to be asking the old lady something and she left the room again.

"Why wouldn't I be? Now he can help pay the bills." Ed joked. The lady had returned with a pen for Al to fill out his application.

"Ed?" Winry turned toward Ed and he turned to her noticing the serious tone of her voice.

"What's up Winry?" he asked.

"How bad are the bills?" Winry asked looking Ed straight in the eye.

Ed could only hold her gaze with his for a moment before breaking off to look at his little brother who appeared to be joking now with the lady at the cash register. "They are pretty bad, but we're managing. I'm going to have to get a job over the winter holidays and next summer to cover all of the costs, but we'll be just fine." Ed smiled slightly as his brother laughed at something that the cash register lady had just said.

Winry just looked at Ed. He had so much on his mind all the time, so many responsibilities at such a young age. _Ed why did you have to grow up so fast? _"Ed you know that if you ever need any help with anything, I'll be here for you."

"No Winry, I'm not going to let you and Aunt Pinako pay my bills. I won't owe you." Ed said refusing to look at Winry in a tone that obviously meant an end to the subject.

Winry, however, wasn't going to let the subject drop. "Ed!" she demanded. He glared at her once again hinting at Winry to drop the subject. She just glared back though.

"Ed, Winry, I think I just got a job!" Al came bursting out of the pet shop to see the scene of the two people he cared about most glaring at each other. "What's going on guys" Al asked a little nervous.

Ed was the first to speak. "Nothing Al, don't worry about it." End of subject. Winry sighed and gave in.

"Ok, well I have to tell you two all about my new job. Well technically it isn't mine yet, but Amber, the nice lady that I talked to told me as I left that I was their best option so far, but anyway she said to stop by tomorrow to find out if I was hired and to get the times that I need to work. Don't worry brother I told her that if I make the Alchemy team after school that I can't work right after school and on certain weekends because of practices and tournaments…" Al continued to talk about his new job as they walked all the way to their apartments.

Finally when they got home Al hurried in saying that he wanted to call Flecher, one of his best friends who was in his grade, and tell him all about his new job. Ed on the other hand turned to Winry as he stood in Al and his apartment, and an awkward silence settled between the two of them.

Winry wanted to say something but was sure that Ed would just ignore her. If only she could knock some sense into Ed. For the second time that day Winry gave up trying to get her point across to Ed. She turned away from Ed and began to head to her own empty apartment as Aunt Pinako was out of town on business. "See you tomorrow Ed, tell Al bye for me."

"Wait, Winry!" Ed exclaimed. Winry turned slowly to look at Ed. "Winry, I need you to promise me that you won't say anything to Al about what we talked about. I don't want him to worry. He doesn't need to. He needs to act his age and live life the way he wants."

Winry looked at Ed with sadness in her eyes. _Oh Ed, how can you do this to yourself? Why don't you let anyone help you with all the responsibility? _Winry walked slowly up to Ed. She acted on instinct and placed each of her hands on both sides of Ed's face and gently pulled him down as to place a small kiss on his forehead, that would cause Ed's face to flush.

As she let go of his head to let him stand back up straight she said, "Sometimes you need to act your age too Ed, so my offer still stands." He tried to interrupt her, but she placed her hand on his mouth making him stop protesting as well as have his face blush even darker. "Even though you want to do everything on your own, I'll always be here. If you ever need anything, just ask and I will try my best for you." Winry looked Ed straight in the eyes and Ed found that he couldn't pull his gaze away from hers. "I will always be here for you whether you need it or not."

Then Winry turned away heading back to her apartment until Ed called out to her. "Wait!" Ed grabbed her wrist to keep Winry from getting away from him. She turned to him ready to get her wrench out to knock some sense into him if he retorted anything about dealing with his own problems on his own.

"Aunt Pinako is out of town right?" Ed asked.

Winry was surprised at the seemingly random question. "Yes, but what are you getting at Ed?"

"So you would be going home to an empty home?" Ed just asked ignoring Winry's question.

"Well yeah, my parents are still out of town too." Winry said.

"Why don't you stay with Al and me for a little while. No one likes to go home to an empty house." Ed said smiling at Winry.

What Winry did next surprised both Ed and herself. She crashed into Ed in a bone crushing hug. Ed just stood there for a second not sure what to do. "Thanks Ed" Winry said into his neck.

With that Ed smiled and wrapped his arms around his best friend hugging her back much to her surprise. "No thank you Win" Ed said into her hair that he couldn't help but notice smelt of oil, a very homely smell in his opinion.

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So when I started writing this chapter I was afraid that it was going to be too short, but it turned out to be one of my longer chapters.

I hadn't originally planned this much fluff and seriousness to it either, but as I wrote this is what it came out as. I personally am happy with it. I hope no one is ooc. If they are, oh well, nothing I'm going to do about it now.

Also to let you know, I love writing. When I make the little equations and sayings about reviews it's basically saying that when I get reviews I get motivated to write the next chapter. Eventually I will get motivated anyway, but when I get reviews I get motivated sooner. Even if I got no reviews I would finish this fic. Don't worry about me stopping writing.

Also I know that I have been updating a ton lately, but to let you know I will go back to updating only every Friday when I go back to school. I've just been very motivated over the winter holidays, and I figure if I get ahead then I might not feel as bad if I miss an update one of the weeks I go back to school, not that I am planning to.

Review please and make me a very happy camper.


	9. Chapter 9 Al's Nerves

Nick's question: How can something have 0 calories if it isn't water? Example: Diet Dr.Pepper.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, a laptop, a non crashed car, a bag of peanuts, a business, my own PS2, a dog…

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**Chapter 9**

"Ed!" Al hissed at Ed trying to get his brother's attention. They were in Student Council and Ed had gotten permission from Roy to sit by his brother to prep Al on what was going to happen in the Alchemy team tryouts, the tryouts that were to happen that day after school.

Ed, however, was having a hard time concentrating on his brother's problems with nerves. After all he was sitting in a chair by Al's desk that was located right behind Winry, and the air conditioner was blowing in such as a way that Ed kept picking up Winry's scent in the air.

When Ed had begun knowing what Winry smelt like he wasn't sure, although he did know that the smell was awfully distracting, as he couldn't help but look at her every time that he would smell her.

In normal circumstances Al would have been fine with Ed getting distracted by Winry. If anything he would have encouraged it, but as today was the day of the Alchemy team tryouts, Al couldn't even see that Ed was getting distracted by Winry. All he knew was that Ed was getting distracted and not helping him calm down.

"Ed!" Al whispered again, this time getting his brother's attention.

Ed looked at his brother. "What is it Al?" he said as he forced his eyes to only look at his brother.

"Brother, could you explain to me again what I have to do in the Alchemy team tryouts?" Al asked nervously. Apparently he already was getting worried about the tryouts.

Ed sighed, knowing that Al wouldn't hear it in his worry. Ed had already explained to his little brother three times what exactly he was going to have to do, plus Mrs. Izumi had explained what was going to happen in each of the alchemy classes that day. All the same, Ed explained to his brother what he was going to have to do.

"The first part of the tryouts is the written test. This will be during your last period class today, as they want to start the second part of the exam immediately after school as everyone likes to watch it." Ed explained. "You don't have much to worry about in the written part of the test as long as you know your Alchemy, which you do."

Al sighed as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. _If big brother says that I'm ready to take the written part of the test, then I must be. Wait, what about the second part? What is it again? Am I ready for it?_ Al looked back up at Ed with an expression of worry on his face.

"Al, listen to me" Ed said. "This is very important." Al nodded to show that he was listening. "The second part of the tryouts is sparing. It's like a tournament. When you beat someone you proceed to the next round. The winner of the whole thing is the most likely to get on the Alchemy team, unless the person who got second has a way higher written test score, but that hasn't happened in years." Al nodded soaking up all the information that Ed was presenting him with.

"Brother, what if I have to go against Kimblee?" Al asked nervously.

Ed sighed. He should have known that Al was going to ask that. "Most likely it will come down to you and Kimblee in the end, Al." Al's eyes widened at Ed's statement. Ed continued. "Me, Armstrong, and Mustang have checked out all of the students that are trying out for the team, and most of them are duds. Kimblee is the only one we couldn't find anything on. He's in Alchemy III so he must be pretty good, but none of us know what his specialty in alchemy is."

Ed looked over at his little brother. Al was ghost white and not saying a thing. "Al, are you okay?" Ed asked seeing his brother's lack of color.

Al opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out and he closed his mouth once again. He was staring at Kimblee.

"Ed!" Winry hissed. She had just turned around and seen that Al was definitely stressing out. "What did you tell him?" she said as she gestured toward Al's still form.

"Nothing Winry" Ed said while he shook his head. "I swear I was only explaining what was going to happen in the Alchemy team tryouts."

"Ed, you idiot, did you encourage Al, or just explain to him what was going to happen?" Winry whispered.

Ed gulped, he already knew his mistake. "I just explained." He readied himself for a wrench to come flying, but none ever came. He opened his eyes to see Winry trying to get Al's attention by snapping in his face.

Winry's snaps seemed to do the trick. Al jumped and looked at Winry still wide eyed and pale. She sighed. "Al you're going to do fine in the test, just do your best, okay?"

Al smiled and his eyes relaxed slightly although he still was pale as ever. "Okay Winry." he answered.

Ed was amazed that Winry had gotten his brother to calm down so much. Ed knew that he wasn't the best at that sort of stuff.

Winry continued speaking to Al. "And after you alchemy tryouts, you can go to your new job at that pet store."

Al's eyes suddenly widened as something hit him. "Winry, I'm supposed to go straight after school to find out if I got the job. I forgot to tell Mrs. Amber that I had Alchemy tryouts right after school today. Now she isn't going to hire me."

Al was overreacting, but Winry decided that humoring him would be the best. "Tell you what Al. After school I'll go to the pet store and explain everything to Mrs. Amber. I'm sure that she will understand."

Al immediately relaxed as if something had been lifted from his shoulders.

Just then the bell rang telling them to go to their last period class. Then someone came on the announcements. "All students that want to tryout for the Alchemy team need to report to Mrs. Izumi's room in order to start the written part of the tryouts." the fuzzy voice said.

Once again Al was stiff. Because all the seniors didn't have any last period, and they wanted to watch the Alchemy Tryouts, they were just going to stay in the Student Coucil room during last period. Shouts of luck and encouragement were yelled at Al as he slowly excited the Student Coucil room following behind Kimblee.

Ed and Winry turned and walked the opposite way of Al after wishing him the best of luck. As they headed to Math, they felt bad for Al.

"Do you think that he will be okay?" Ed asked Winry.

"I hope so… I really hope so." Winry answered looking at Ed. For a second neither of them could say anything as they walked to class. Then a stray thought hit Ed.

"Hey Winry. Are you really going to go to the pet shop after school?" Ed asked.

"Yeah." Winry simply answered.

"So you're going to miss Al's tryouts for the Alchemy team?" Ed pointed out to Winry.

"Shoot!" Winry cursed. She hadn't exactly thought of that. _Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now._ Winry sighed accepting her fate. "I'll just have to hurry and hope that I don't miss too much of Al's tryout. Could you wish him luck from me again before he tries out for the team?"

"Sure Winry. But you better hurry at that pet store. After all I don't think Al would be too pleased if you missed his tryout." Ed said.

The next moment a new bump was on Ed's head. But before he could say a word Winry was already speaking. "Of course I'll hurry. I know that he wouldn't be happy. Plus I want to see Al make the team. I mean sure Fuery is going to video the tryouts but I still want to see it in person."

Ed said nothing knowing that Winry cared for Al almost as if she was his big sister. _I wonder how she feels about me.

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_

I would like to thank all of my reviewers so far. Also I promise that more fluff is going to come up between Ed and Winry. I promise, I promise, I promise. Also just reminding you guys that I will be updating every Friday from now on, unless I have a holiday off from school, or for some reason I can suddenly whip out a bunch of chapters.

Originally I had planned for the Alchemy team tryouts to start in this chapter, but as I typed, this is what came out. I know that this is a semi boring chapter, but to understand the tryouts one must kind of read this chapter to understand how it works, but I promise you that the next chapter will be much better. I can't wait to write the big fight scene in the Alchemy team tryouts. That will be the next chapter. Hopefully I can write it this weekend, as I do have the whole thing almost planned out. (I have most of it written in my head just not on my computer, there are a few things that I haven't quite figured out though.)

Letting you know that if the next chapter doesn't come up next Friday, I'm blaming school.

My first semester is still going on because my school started so late and thus I might have a ton of homework and other stuff going on next week as it is the last week of the semester (I think). At least I won't have to take finals as I am a senior and will be exempt from all of them. (Yaaaaaa for exemptions.) My sister Nick will have to take exams though so updates could be late if she can't get a chance to read my chapters.

Not to mention my dance competition season is coming up and I already am up at my dance studio about 24 hours a week (I'm actually up there 23 and ¼ hours a week, but who's counting?), and soon I'll be up there even more for extra practices.

Sorry to have such a long author's note. I just need to explain to you guys why I **might** miss a few updates.

Review please.


	10. Chapter 10 Alchemy Team Tryouts

Nick's question: How come bottled water has an expiration date? (Seriously, it does. Check it out.)

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, but I do own my own can of Cashews. Cashews are definitely the best nut in the world. (Okay here's a random thing that I almost did. Just now as I tried to type nut, I almost typed knut. Then I did the same thing with now, almost making it know.)

This chapter is really long and most chapters will not be this long. I hope you enjoy. If I am confusing you with my fights, sorry. Plus if I mess up how any of the characters fight, tell me and I'll fix it. Thanks

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**Chapter 10**

Al was sitting in a chair off at the front of the Gym floor. All of those who were trying out for the Alchemy team were seated in other chairs around him. He counted 15 other students that were trying out as well as him. That means that he would have to beat four other students. The stands on the left side of the large Gym were quickly filling up with students who were eager to find out who would be chosen to join the team. The right side of the Gym was filled with all sorts of alchemic material.

Across the floor was some more chairs up against the wall. These chairs were for the teachers if they choose to attend the tryouts. Although three of the chairs had pieces of paper taped to them and were empty. Al already knew that was where his brother, Armstrong, and Mustang, were to sit during the tryouts.

They were not anywhere to be seen and although that made Al nervous, he knew why they weren't there. Before the Alchemy tryouts started, the existing members were to make a little performance showing the school what their alchemy was.

Al looked into the soon full stands in the Gym. He found the faces of Breda, Falman, Sheska, Havoc, and Riza, who were all smiling at him. What confused him was that Winry wasn't with them. Neither was Fuery.

Al looked around and found Fuery setting up a camera at the head of the Gym. Apparently Fuery was the one going to film the Alchemy team tryouts for the school. _Where is Winry though?_

Winry

At that moment Winry was running as fast as she could toward the pet store, so as to not miss Al's entire tryout. _Al you better make it to the last round so I can see you tryout. Watching a video just isn't the same._

Ed

Ed was standing at the back door to the Gym with Armstrong and Mustang. They were waiting for Mrs. Izumi to give them their cue to come in and show what they could do.

Mrs. Izumi was standing at the podium that was in the middle of the Gym, in a second it would be moved out of the way to let the Alchemists spar. "Ahem!" she said trying to get the attention of the student body. Of course everyone shut up because they all knew what Mrs. Izumi was capable of, and they were afraid of facing her wrath.

Mrs. Izumi began speaking into the microphone now that she had the attention of the student body. "Students, today we will all witness the alchemy team tryouts. It will be a tournament between these sixteen students, and whoever wins the tournament will be put on the team unless their written scores are terrible. But before we start the tournament I would like to introduce you to the remaining members of the Alchemy team.

That was their cue. All three boys walked out to the middle of the Gym as to be introduced to the student body by Mrs. Izumi, although most everyone already knew them. "Here is Alex Lewis Armstrong, Roy Mustang, and Edward Elric." Cheering erupted from bleachers as everyone knew what was going to happen next. "These boys are going to give you a short demonstration of their alchemy." Mrs. Izumi said walking back over to a chair by the other teachers. Also two freshmen jumped up and dragged the podium away from the middle of the floor, so it would be out of the way.

Armstrong started the demonstration. He grabbed a large slab of concrete from the side where all of the alchemic material was. Then he threw it slightly into the air and punched it with his alchemic knuckles, tuning the slab into a cone of concrete and shooting it towards the ceiling.

Here's where Mustang stepped in smirking. He only dislodged one of his gloved hands from his pocket, and with that hand he snapped just once. Fire immediately sprang towards Armstrong's cone and circled around it, almost making it look as if the cone had red lightning springing from it.

The crowd gasped at the magnificent sight and waited in anticipation as the cone went further and further up. Several girls even let out little shrieks as they were afraid that the cone would hit the ceiling.

Ed finally stepped in looking determined as always. He quickly clapped his hands together once and slammed them down on to the floor. Then a small column came up out of the ground and grew rapidly until it caught up with the lightning cone. As the column made contact with it, there was a bright light as another transmutation occurred.

Suddenly the red lightning cone was gone along with the thin column. Instead, a shower of flower petals was floating down to the ground.

For a moment the audience just sat in aw of what they had just seen, before they broke out into deafening cheers. Mustang and Armstrong both went to sit down at the three empty chairs by all the teachers. Ed quickly flashed Al a smile before going to sit with his team members. On the other hand Mrs. Izumi stood up to announce the matches and referee them.

Al

There was no other way to put it. Al was nervous. _What if Ed was wrong and one of these other people have some extraordinary talent or something? Not to mention no one knows what Kimblee can do._ Al cautiously peered over at Kimblee who wasn't sitting anywhere near him, thank goodness.

Kimblee didn't appear to be fazed at all. In fact he was smirking. At that moment Kimblee looked over at Al, making Al jump slightly and turn away embarrassed for staring. Kimblee only smirked even more, with even more confidence showing on his face.

"To get started, we have Alphonse Elric and Ted Nobody combating. Remember, once you loose a match you cannot make the alchemy team, unless there are extreme conditions." Mrs. Izumi announced on the podium that had been moved to the side of the gym.

Both Al and Ted stood up and walked to the center of the gym to shake hands before starting the fight. Both had pieces of chalk in their pockets ready to begin the fight. Mrs. Izumi began speaking once again into the microphone. "I want fair fights from all of you, no permanent damage to anyone. Also if things get out of hand, one of the other alchemy team members or I will step in to halt the battle. Now…" Mrs. Izumi stopped and waited for Al and Ted to shake hands. Once they had done so she spoke again. "Begin!"

The audience went wild with shouts. Al immediately went on one knee and started drawing a transmutation circle as quickly as possible. For a second, Ted could only stand there a little surprised, but then he saw that Al was drawing a transmutation circle and had left his defenses open.

Rather than performing Alchemy, Ted ran at Al to attack, as that was part of the Alchemy sparring. Ted was too slow though. Before he made it to Al, Al was placing his hands on his transmutation circle and there was a little glow before a cage grew up from the ground trapping Ted where he was, out of reach of Al.

More cheers erupted from the stands many chorusing Al's name. He had just won his first match. _One down and three to go._ Al smiled at Ed who was smiling and clapping for him along with the rest of the crowd.

Al freed Ted who smiled at Al and shook his hand like a good sport. Then Al quickly fixed the floor with his alchemy and went back to sit down in his seat with the other candidates. Up next were two students whom Al did not know, but who ever won in this match would be up against him next.

The match was quick, because when one of the students tried to perform a transmutation, it proved to be too much for him, and he fainted. The other won by default.

Next was Kimblee vs. some student that Mrs. Izumi introduced as Ralph. Al felt bad for Ralph, because he appeared to be a freshman and didn't seem to know what he was doing. It was pretty obvious in that he simply ran at Kimblee, just as Ted had ran at Al. Kimblee knocked the boy out in three quick moves.

The audience screamed for Kimblee just as they had for Al, but only a smirk formed on the boy's face before he looked at Al and sat back down.

Following Kimblee's match there was five matches that all were pretty entertaining, in that all of them pretty even. Al had to admit to himself that besides Kimblee, none of the other students seemed to be that amazing at Alchemy. Now there were only eight students that hadn't been eliminated from the competition.

Once again it was Al's turn to fight with another student, the boy who had won by default. What was his name again? Al shook his hand just like he had with Ted and Mrs. Izumi told them to start just like she did with each match.

As soon as she had said start, the other boy and Al both ran to the alchemic material provided for them. Al headed for what he had seen before the competition, one of the five suits of armor. Quickly he drew his most common transmutation circle and activated it. The suit of armor then came to life, causing the audience to gasp in amazement at what Al had just done.

The other boy, however, seemed to know what he was doing. He had drawn a transmutation circle on a pile of what appeared to be metal scraps. As he activated it, the metal scraps went flying towards Al.

Nothing hit Al though, as he was standing behind his newly activated suit of armor. The other boy's eyes widened in disbelief as the giant suit of armor walked slowly towards him. With one hit over the head, the boy was knocked out. Once again cheers broke out in the stands even louder than before. Al could only smile a little embarrassed that so many people were cheering for him.

He quickly deactivated his armor and went to go sit back down refusing to look at Kimblee, who was passing him on his way out to the gym floor. Kimblee vs. Greg was the next battle.

Al didn't know much about Greg, except that he was in his Alchemy class and seemed to understand Alchemy pretty well. He didn't have a chance against Kimblee though. Kimblee didn't waste a second as Mrs. Izumi started the battle.

Kimblee and Greg both ran to the pile of alchemic material to begin their battle. Greg immediately began to draw a transmutation circle, but Kimblee didn't waste anytime with that. He simply scooped up a larger rock and chunked it at Greg.

Al was surprised to see Kimblee do something that simple. Greg was a little surprised but dodged the rock easily before returning to his circle. Greg never got to perform any alchemy though, because as soon as the rock had barely sailed past Greg, it exploded.

Al's eyes widened, in surprise. How had Kimblee just performed alchemy without a transmutation circle? Al sighed. Defeating Kimblee was going to be as hard as he had anticipated. The next two fights Al didn't really pay attention to. In the next fight he would be in, he was going to have to fight Kimblee.

Finally, Al's battle vs. Kimblee was up. Silence filled the gym as everyone could sense that this was the battle that would really decide who was to join the Alchemy team. Yes, whoever won this battle would have to beat someone else trying out, but no one seemed to be as skilled in Alchemy and fighting as Kimblee and Al.

They shook hands and the skirmish began.

Kimblee tried the same tactic with Al, as he had with Greg. It didn't work so well on Al though, because Al knew what was going to happen and he dodged and steered clear of all of the stuff Kimblee threw at him.

Kimblee didn't get fazed, and instead he almost seemed to enjoy doing minimal damage to Al. Every time that Al would even get the littlest scratch, Kimblee would get this devilish grin on his face and begin to throw projectiles even faster. Al was getting quite fed up with it all. He quickly ran to where the suits of armor were lined up and drew circles on all of them, activating them. Then it was his turn to attack.

Al and his armors all ran at Kimblee, who expertly dodged them only getting minor cuts and bruises. Kimblee tried to get closer to Al in all of his attacks. Eventually he would get close enough to Al to punch him in the face. Al was ready though, and caught Kimblee's fist before it could make contact.

As Kimblee pulled his arm away from Al, he caught a glimpse of something on the palm of Kimblee's hand. He quickly grabbed for Kimblee's arm, who kicked Al as he pulled away once again, Al then fell to floor knowing what was on Kimblee's hands.

He had tattoos on both of his palms as to let him do alchemy without having to draw a transmutation circle every time. Al was instantly relieved to know that Kimblee wasn't doing Alchemy without a transmutation circle, thus he could only do alchemy having to do with explosives.

Kimblee was a little annoyed. He couldn't beat the Elric twerp and he had even gotten scratches from the kid. He decided to end the battle fast. He quickly grabbed the wrist of the armor that was the closest to him and there was an explosion.

Al threw up his hands to cover his face as one of his five armors made a huge explosion not ten feet away. When he peered at Kimblee, he truly thought that Kimblee was insane.

Kimblee was looking at Al, who had stood back up and readied himself for the next attack, and he had a huge demonic smile on his face and his eyes were wide open with a crazy look in them. What was the worst part of it was, the fact that Kimblee's face had blood all over it, because of the explosion happening so close to him.

Mrs. Izumi along with the members of the alchemy team were all standing at the side of the gym, trying to figure out if Kimblee meant to do any permanent damage to Al. Mrs. Izumi knew that if Kimblee did try anything funny, then she would send in her alchemy team to break up the fight.

Kimblee lunged at Al and slugged him once in the face. Al only stumbled back slightly though. Kimblee still had a small piece of the armor that he had exploded and he put it up to Al's temple to explode it there. Al was too quick, however, and pushed Kimblee's arm far enough away to not get hit very hard with the next explosion.

"Why won't you just die and let me on the team!" Kimblee screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kimblee had gone too far, as far as Mrs. Izumi was concerned, Kimblee had just threatened to kill another student. She quickly signaled for the Alchemy team to stop the fight.

Al and Kimblee continued throwing blows and trying to knock one another out, not knowing that Mrs. Izumi was trying to stop the match. As Kimblee's hands and head were hurt from his explosions, he wasn't hitting quite as hard as Al and wasn't quite as precise. Therefore before the Alchemy team could even get to Al, Al had knocked Kimblee to the ground, appearing to be knocked out.

Ed ran to Al. "Al, are you alright? He asked standing next to his little brother. Al just lightly smiled at Ed in his current exhaustion.

"You won't get rid of me that easily." Kimblee mumbled from the ground. Then there was a loud explosion that filled the gym.

Everyone in the stands was silent before Sheska pulled out her phone and called 911. "Excuse me, we have an emergency." she said as she surveyed the scene before her.

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Wow, this was a **long** chapter and it ended with a cliffy. I know. I'm mean. 

I almost spilt this chapter into two, but I just couldn't. Don't know why, so sorry about the length if it bothers you.

Sorry if any of the characters are ooc. When Kimblee freaks out, it's like in the anime when he is about to explode Al.

Also, there is a chance that I can update really soon, I've finished the next chapter, but it's in desperate need of an edit job from Nick, my little sister, (Yes, I know that it's strange for my little sister to edit, but she is the one who's in honors English.) So tell me when you want me to update and be on the look out for a new chapter, as early as late this weekend. I probably will update on Sunday or Monday, tell me what you think.

Now hit that button at the bottom and review. You know you want to. : P


	11. Chapter 11 Explaining to Winry

Nick's question: If vegetable oil is made from vegetables then what is baby oil made from. (Yeah, I know that this isn't an original question, but we couldn't think of anything else.)

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, but I finally have a song for the tap class that I teach by myself every Thursday. (I had so much trouble finding a good song for them to tap to.)

Here's what you have been waiting for. Just as I promised, the next chapter

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**Chapter 11**

Winry rushed back to the school. _I hope that I haven't missed Al's battle. I didn't think it would take so long to get to that pet store and get back. _

Winry was running back from the pet store where she had explained everything to Mrs. Amber about Al not being able to come today because he had Alchemy team tryouts. It had taken a while because the lady could not quite understand what Winry was saying.

As she entered the school's parking lot, Winry saw students hovering all around their cars talking, but not leaving. _What's going on here?_ Then Winry saw something that almost made her heart stop. For a moment Winry just stood staring as two ambulances drove away from the other side of the school. _Al!_

Winry immediately took off running toward the gyms. Her eyes were filling with water and she bumped several people as she ran, but ignored their comments about her being rude. She was too busy worrying about Al. After all he was the one fighting that day.

As she came to the gym, she ran as fast as she could to where her group of friends was standing with their backs to her. "GUYS!" she yelled as she drew closer in panic as she couldn't find Alphonse.

They all turned slowly towards her, with fear in their eyes. Then she found what she was looking for. Al. He was right in the middle of all of her friends and he had tears streaming down his face. Besides that though, he looked none worse for the wear. She immediately tackled Al in the biggest hug as she let out a breath she hadn't realized that she had even been holding.

"Al. I was so worried." Al had confusion etched on his face, while everyone else seemed to have gotten a sudden obsession with not looking a Winry. "When I got back to the school parking lot after going to that pet store, Oh you got the job by the way Al," Winry said cheerfully, as a sudden realization went across Al's face. _So that's where Winry was._

"Anyway, I saw these two ambulances drive off and I remembered that you were fighting today, and I thought that maybe you had gotten hurt." She gave Al another quick squeeze, before letting go of him and really looking at her surroundings.

The gym floor was a mess, and all of her friends looked either like they had been crying, were on the verge of tears, or just scared to death. "What happened in here anyway?" Winry asked a little scared of what answer she would get. "Shouldn't we all be happy, you made the team right Al?" Winry suddenly asked even more worried.

For a moment no one said a word, and Al just simply walked away and sat down facing away from the rest, by something dark red in the middle of the gym floor. At first Winry didn't know what the red puddle seemed to be, and then realization dawned upon her. _Blood. But whose? _She looked at each of her friends all standing around silent, and then for the first time she realized who was missing.

"g-guys" Winry said with her voice shaking. "Where's Edward?"

Roy took a deep breath as he looked at Riza who was pale white. She looked at Roy and simply said four words. "Tell her what happened." Once again Roy took a deep breath before jumping into his explanation.

"Ed's in one of the ambulances on his way to the hospital." Winry gasped and her eyes widened in surprise. How had Ed gotten hurt? Roy continued. "Al's third battle was against Kimblee. Well, Kimblee went a little explosion happy with his alchemy, and he then threatened to kill Al. Mrs. Izumi took that as a sign to stop the match before Kimblee did something bad to really hurt Al, but as Armstrong, Ed, and I ran out to the gym floor to stop the battle, Al seemingly knocked out Kimblee."

Roy looked Winry in the eyes as he continued. "Kimblee wasn't really knocked out though. And when Ed got out to Al and asked him if he was alright, Kimblee muttered something about not getting rid of him that easily before he grabbed the closest thing to him and made a huge explosion. It just happened that the closest thing was Ed's left leg."

Winry gasped. "You mean that Kimb…" Winry couldn't finish her own sentence.

Roy looked away. "Yeah, that crazy dick exploded Ed's left leg. Then Sheska called 911 and Ed was unconscious, zooming away to the hospital the last time we saw him, although he did leave a little puddle of blood behind." Once again no one said anything.

"Who was the second ambulance for then?" Winry asked cautiously, once again afraid of what the answer might be.

Roy smirked, although it didn't reach his eyes, and thus was obviously fake. "Al got pissed and beat the shit out of Kimblee with his suits of armor. Al would have had to fight another student before being admitted to the alchemy team, but at seeing the way that Al beat Kimblee, the other two students gave up before they even fought each other." Roy finished trying to lighten the mood slightly.

By now Riza seemed to be recovering slightly and she walked over to Winry who was shaking all over at what she had just heard. Riza held out her arms and hugged the junior as tears silently streamed down Winry's face.

Riza then turned her head slightly to look at Roy and he nodded to her knowing what she was thinking. She spoke, "Come on Winry, Roy's going to drive us and Al to the hospital. Then she turned with Winry and started walking out to the parking lot with the girl, still with her arm around Winry's shoulders.

All of the rest of the group slowly followed going to their own cars and deciding to meet back up at the hospital. However, Al still was sitting on the floor by Ed's puddle of blood. Roy walked cautiously over to the boy.

"Come on Al. I'm going to take you to the hospital to see your brother." He said as he walked around Al to better see his face. It wasn't much of a surprise to see tears streaming down his face just like Winry.

Roy reached down and pulled Al up to his feet. "Come on Al, your brother's going to want to see you when he wakes up."

Al looked away from Roy's eyes, "But it's all my fault. If I had really defeated Kimblee then brother wouldn't have gotten hurt. It's all my fault that brother might die."

Roy clapped his hands down hard on Al's shoulders making the younger boy look him in the eyes. "It wasn't your fault Alphonse, and I'm sure that Edward will agree with me. For now though, you need to be there for your brother when he wakes up."

Al and Roy walked slowly out to the parking lot where Riza and Winry were waiting by Mustang's car for him to unlock it.

Al was in the front seat with Mustang while Riza sat in the back with Winry leaning against her shoulder still looking worried. Then quietly Winry spoke to Al. "It's not your fault Al." Roy hadn't realized that Winry understood Al so well. He didn't know that Winry practically looked at Al like a little brother. "Don't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault."

And then Winry closed her eyes and almost looked as though she was asleep, although really she was just trying to calm herself down on the inside. _You better be alright Edward Elric, or else I'm going to kill you.

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Yeah, sorry about the short chapter but I think it's okay because of the length of the last chapter. Anyway I would like to tell everyone that I plan on updating Friday as usual. So check it out.

I bet you all know exactly what is going to happen in the next chapter, remember also that Ed only lost his arm in the wreck with his parents.

Also think of this story as in arcs. It isn't even close to done yet. I'm practically just getting started. I have a ton of stuff planned already for this fic. It is going to be long. The other day I counted up the number of good chapter ideas I had and it was a lot. (I can't remember the exact amount.) Just letting you know.

Now review if you can, I love feedback. Constructive Criticism is always appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12 Waking up

Nick's Question: If quizzes are quizzical, then what are tests? (Once again, not an original question, but it's still funny. Lol.)

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA and I only own a half box of Cheez-its. (I ate the rest. LOL.)

**Chapter 12

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Winry and Al sat across from each other by Ed's bed. Everyone else was outside in the waiting room, because only family was allowed to see Ed. The only reason that the nurses had let Winry in the room was because Roy had lied and told them that she was Ed's girlfriend. Being that Winry wanted to see Ed more then anything, she confirmed what Roy had said when the doctors asked her if it was true.

Ed, for the most part, had lost a lot of blood, but he was going to be fine. Still, Winry and Al couldn't help but worry, as Ed still hadn't woken up.

Winry had silently placed her hand on Ed's left hand and refused to look down at his stump of a leg. Instead she looked at Ed's hand memorizing it and distracting herself from the current predicament. As Winry listened to the machine beep with Ed's heartbeat, she couldn't help but think that the sound was the most depressing thing she had ever heard.

Al, on the other hand, was griping his brother's automail hand as hard as he could as he looked at his brother's face. It was calm and non-expressive. Of course it would be as he was sleeping.

Suddenly Edward stirred slightly as a painful grimace contorted his face. Both Alphonse and Winry jumped slightly and then stared at Ed's face hoping that he would awake. Relief filled Winry's heart as Ed's eyes cracked open and he saw his two closest people in the world hovering just over him.

"Brother" Al gasped slightly as he drew a sharp intake of breath.

"Edward" Winry whispered involuntarily under her breath as her eyes couldn't help but water slightly.

"Hey you guys, did Al get on the team?" Ed asked beginning to wake up a little more.

Winry and Al were dumbfounded. Edward had just gotten his leg exploded and had been close to death and the first thing he said when he woke up is if Al made the Alchemy team. Typical Ed.

"Brother!" Al almost shouted as he tackled his brother who was still lying down. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" Al repeated as tears streamed down his cheeks and he hugged his big brother tightly around the neck.

Ed had startled at the sudden hug, but had smiled, a real smile, the kind that Winry didn't see as much anymore. Then he lifted up his hand and patted Al on the head. "Al, it wasn't your fault, if anything it was my own fault, I should have been a little more aware and not distracted you from fighting Kimblee, well at least not have distracted you when you were that close to him. What happened to that Son of a …" Ed stopped mid sentence feeling Winry's gaze on him.

He looked at her and gaped at what he saw. Winry was looking straight at Edward straight in the eyes, blue stared at amber. Hers were filled with tears and yet a smile was across her face and her hand was holding his. It was so warm. At least know he knew that she definitely cared for him.

Al sensed a change in the room and pulled away from his brother already knowing that he had forgiven him, if there had been anything to forgive, although he hadn't really forgiven himself. Seeing his brother looking at Winry strangely, Al knew that something was on his big brother's mind.

"Al, I've got to talk to Winry alone, would you mind?" Ed asked looking away from Winry and straight at Al, showing that he wasn't trying to be mean.

Al nodded understanding completely. "I should go tell everyone that you're awake anyways, plus I really should get a doctor to check up on you." Ed frowned at the idea that he needed to be checked on with a doctor. Al then walked out the door and headed towards the waiting room to inform everyone that Ed was awake.

A silence passed over the room as Winry and Ed just looked into each other's eyes. Finally Winry was the one to break it. "Ed, it wasn't your fault either."

"Yes it was Winry." He retorted back. "I should have been more aware, Al could have really gotten hurt. If Kimblee had been closer to Al, then my little brother could have had this happen to him." Ed looked down at how there was nothing where his left leg had previously been.

"Edward," Winry whispered quietly squeezed Ed's hand. "No one is to blame here except Kimblee, so stop putting all the blame on your own shoulders. You Elrics are all alike. Trying to take all the blame all the time. Stop being so noble." Winry stood up next to Ed and wrapped her arms around him as well as she could, "Just remember I'm always here for you Ed."

Edward stiffened at the last thing that Winry said and Winry felt it. She immediately pulled away and asked, "What is it Ed?"

Ed sighed, he knew that he had to ask her, after all it was the reason that he had sent Al out of the room. He knew that Al would object to it, and he was pretty sure that convincing Winry alone was going to be hard enough. "It's actually the reason that I sent Al out of the room." Ed started explaining. "You know how you said the other day that you would always be there to help me no matter what." Winry smiled at Ed knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Well," Ed continued "I want to take you up on that offer."

"Ed, what exactly is it that you want?" Winry asked carefully a little afraid of the answer that she might receive.

"I want an automail leg." Ed said staring at how the blanket on top of him only had one hump of a leg under it.

Winry let out a sigh of relief. "Of course you can have automail Ed. When Aunt Pinako comes back in town she'll hook it right up."

Ed was glad that Winry had said yes to the automail thing, convincing Al might be a little harder, after all Al knew how much it had hurt Ed the first time when he had gotten his automail arm. Now he had just one more thing to ask Winry. "Winry, I don't want Aunt Pinako to hook it up."

Winry looked at Ed with her eyebrows a little furrowed. _What does he mean that he doesn't want Aunt Pinako to do it. Who else could do it?_

Ed continued "I want you to do it."

Winry just stared at Ed for a moment before her eyes widened and then she started to yell. "What!? You want me to do it! But but but but… I've never done it by myself before Ed!"

"SO!" Ed yelled back. Winry was surprised by Ed's sudden outburst and stayed silent as he talked. "You're always saying how you are always assisting Aunt Pinako with the patients and could probably hook up automail by yourself."

"Saying it and doing it is two different things Ed!" Winry didn't realize how close her face was getting to Ed's. Suddenly the two teens did become aware of their proximity and both flushed bright red before Ed looked away and Winry backed up a little.

"But I want you to do it Winry" Ed said so quietly that Winry almost didn't hear him. _Was he really asking her to do this? I mean how can I? What if I mess up? _Winry looked at Ed and sighed.

She voiced her question. "What if I mess up? What happens then?"

"You won't mess up." Ed said simply. For a moment they sat in silence neither of them looking at one another.

"Fine." Winry said "I'll do it." She looked up at Ed and blushed at how he was smiling at her. Two real smiles in one day. Winry smiled back although her stomach was doing strange flips that she was blaming on her nerves about connecting automail by herself.

At that moment Al walked back into the room. He couldn't help but notice the slight blush that adorned both Winry and his brother's faces. "The doctor will be here soon, he was a little busy at the moment, everyone says hi by the way."

"Al, we've got something to tell you," Ed said stopping Al from talking anymore. _Maybe they finally realized that they both care for each other a lot and maybe even love one another. _

"Winry's going to give me an automail leg." Ed said.

Al's hope of them confessing fell and he stared wide eyed at his brother and then at Winry. "brother, didn't it really hurt the first time, with your arm?"

"Yeah, but I want it, and I'm willing to go through the pain again." Ed said trying to explain to his little brother.

"I get it brother, but it's just that…" Al trailed off not sure what exactly it was that he wanted to say.

"What is it Al?" Winry asked, worried about Al.

"It's all my fault. First I make you loose your leg, and now that you're getting an automail one, you're going to have to go through even more pain… because of me." Al said looking down at the ground. Ed looked at Winry who had an expression on her face that clearly said 'See I told you that you Elrics always try to take the blame.'

"Alphonse," Ed said sharply to his brother. Al looked up to meet his brother's eyes. "Never blame yourself." Then Ed grinned at his little brother trying to lighten the mood. "So how many people are out there waiting to see me? I must be pretty popular."

Al couldn't help but smile at his older brother's joke. "I'll go see if some of them can come in and see you now that you're awake. They wouldn't let anyone in but family to see you originally."

"Then how come Winry was allowed to come see me?" Ed asked innocently.

Winry's face flushed red as she remembered what they had done and she looked at Al who chuckled slightly before answering Ed. "Why don't you ask Winry?" he said as he hurried out the door. _This almost worked out better than I expected it to._

Ed scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as his little brother walked out on him. _Why would you want Winry to tell me?_ He then turned to the girl in question not noticing her red face and asked "So, how'd you do it?"

"Um, we kind of told the nurses that I was your girlfriend." Winry answered while turning an even brighter shade of red.

Ed also turned red just thinking about it. He had started thinking thoughts of if him and Winry being together, that summer, but he had always brushed it off fairly quickly. Too many people weren't friends anymore after they dated. There was no way that Ed was going to have that happen with his best friend. Besides he just liked her as a sister. Right?

"Why did you tell them I was your… boyfriend." Ed spat the word out not wanting to think about it too much.

"It was the only way for me to see you. And besides, I wasn't even the one who told the nurses that, Mustang was." Winry was refusing to look at Ed, suddenly finding the floor to be very interesting.

Ed fumed, it would be just like Mustang to tell the nurses that him and Winry were dating. All the same, "I'm glad that he did." Ed said surprising both Winry and himself. Ed continued, "It was nice having you and Al here when I woke up."

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Yaaaaaa! Another completed chapter. This little arc is almost done I think that maybe two more chapters should do it, and I the next one is going to be more fluffy I think. It isn't the end of the story, it's just the end of an arc. Just letting you know arc 1 was chapters 1-8, Arc 2 is chapters 9-14 unless I say otherwise.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry that they keep being so long. I'll watch myself next chapter. I just start writing, and then all these ideas on what to say and where to say it flood my mind. Tell me if any of the characters are ooc. Keep reading.

Review please. I love seeing feedback, and any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Keep writing.

FFG- Jo (Yes Jo is the one writing this story if you didn't know, check out my profile that I share with my little sis.)


	13. Chapter 13 Automail Surgery

Nick's Question: Why are pigtails (as in the hairdo) called pig tails. Who thought that would be a good name?

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, if I did then… (zones for a few minutes)… yeah that's what I'd do. (For all I know I've already done this disclaimer, if I have then sorry.)

**Chapter 13

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Winry was really nervous. How could she not be? It was Saturday, the day of the automail operation and this was her first time to do an automail surgery by herself, and she didn't even have anyone to check that she was doing it correctly.

Even though Ed had asked her to do the automail surgery, she had gone around and seen if other automail surgeons in the city could do it. Unfortunately, none of them were in town. It appeared that they all had gone to the automail convention just like Pinako. Winry had even gone as far as to ask Mr. Dominic if he could do the surgery, but he had refused on principle, saying that Ed had asked for her to do it and therefore she should do it.

It's not like Winry wasn't confident in doing the automail surgery, but she was by herself. And not only that, but this was Ed. Ed who had been her friend all her life. She was completely afraid that she might do some kind of permanent damage to his body. It didn't happen often, but what if his body rejected the automail.

Winry walked into Ed's room feeling defeated and scared. Today was the day of the operation and at this moment Ed was looking just fine. _Why can't he just wait for Aunt Pinako to get back to get automail?_ "Are you sure about this Ed?" Winry asked giving the boy one last chance to get out of what he asked.

"I'm sure" Ed answered seemingly calmly, but the slight tightness in his neck gave away how nervous yet determined he was about getting automail, again.

"Okay, you know how it goes. First I have to strap your legs down." Winry explained even though Ed already knew what she had to do. She pulled some long leather straps out of her suitcase that she had brought with her. Then, connecting them to the sides of Ed's hospital bed, she pulled them across the boy's lap making sure that they were tight enough so that he couldn't move his leg during the operation.

Then Winry quickly got out the rest of her equipment which included an automail leg for Ed. She had measured his legs just a few days ago, and happened to have a leg that would work until she could make one especially for him.

"I've got to reopen the wound Ed, not much but just enough to fuse your sensors to my nerve connectors. Last chance?" Winry said just trying to keep her voice steady.

"You in, I'm in." Ed said answering her question.

How could this guy do it? He was just so strong. Before she could start Winry just had to do one last thing. She didn't even know why she did it, she just had to.

She walked up to Ed who was staring at her with his golden eyes in confusion, and she kissed his cheek. As she pulled just barely away from his face their eyes locked and in that moment Winry got the urge to do something that she had only dreamed about. She almost gave into the flood of emotion filling her heart and nearly kissed Ed dead on.

Ed meanwhile was staring at Winry, and was blushing with her show of affection. As she pulled back slightly, he had this sudden urge to stop her and pull her back in for a kiss, but this time on the lips. He didn't do anything though. Instead his curiosity overcame him and he asked softly, "What was that for?"

"For luck." Winry replied, although she really wasn't too sure herself.

Then Winry walked back over to Ed's leg and looked at the boy. He gave a quick nod of the head showing that he was ready. Winry began to reopen his wounds.

At first the pain wasn't too bad but as Winry had to fuse her nerve wires to Ed's senses in his leg, the pain increased significantly. Ed refused to cry out knowing that it wouldn't do any good.

Winry knew that Ed would shout out in pain from the first time that he had done this operation. She hadn't known how grateful she was that he didn't until she had started operating. If she had heard Ed yell even once during the operation, she wasn't sure if she could have kept on just concentrating on connecting everything as quickly as possible.

She only looked up once to see Ed grinding his teeth with the pain he was in, before she learned her lesson and didn't look up again.

Winry was covered in sweat by the time that she finished finally hooking up all the wires and the base to the automail. Now all that was left was hooking up the actual automail leg in place. This wasn't that painful, except for the fact that Ed's leg would be sore from the operation she had just finished, so hooking up the leg wouldn't be very comfortable.

She quickly screwed the leg into its place connecting it to the base that she had just installed on Ed's leg. "Done." Winry said looking up at Ed.

The boy looked absolutely beat. He was drenched in sweat and was breathing a little heavy. Looking at him made Winry's heat do a sudden flip flop, and Winry could only gasp slightly at the sensation. _No I can't._ "Umm Ed… I'm going to go tell Al that we finished." Then Winry left the room quickly.

_No I won't allow it. He's your best friend Winry! This will mess up everything. _Winry got to the waiting room where she told Al to wait during the surgery. "Al I finished, you can go see your brother." Winry said a little zoned. Al wouldn't notice till later that Winry had been acting strange, because he was too worried about his brother to really notice anything else.

"Thanks Winry." He said as he bolted down the hall to get to Ed's room.

Winry sank into one of the waiting chairs beat. Doing the surgery by herself hadn't been too bad, but now that it was done, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

That wasn't really what was bothering her too much though. What was bugging her was the realization that had come with that kiss before the surgery. During the surgery she hadn't thought on it because she couldn't afford to be distracted with those thoughts. Now that she was done, she couldn't help but let in the thoughts that she had blocked off, and quite frankly she was very surprised at the true reasoning behind her kiss.

_Crap, I have a crush on my best friend. _Winry buried her head in her hands. There was only one thing to do. _I'll just have to act as if nothing has changed. It's not worth loosing Ed's friendship over. I would rather be the best friend that supports him in everything, than be completely open and end up just being an uncomfortable friend. Yes, that's what I'll do._

Now that Winry had made up her mind she headed back to Ed's room.

Ed

Ed was having a dilemma as well as he half listened to how worried his little brother was over him.

_That kiss. It was really nice. Snap out of it Ed! Getting a crush on the girl won't help. She doesn't like you like that. I should only stay friends with her. _

Just then the girl of Ed's thoughts, Winry, reentered the room. "Hey guys, I think that I'm just going to pack up my stuff and get going." Winry said as she started moving around the room picking up her tools and any spare automail parts she had brought. Ed had already taken the straps off of himself and he handed them to her as well.

"Thanks Ed." She said as she took them from the boy trying not to look at him for too long.

"Winry…" Ed said not sure exactly what he should say.

Winry looked back at Ed and completely understood what he was trying to say. "You're welcome Ed." She said as she picked up her bag from the floor and walked out.

Ed relaxed as he knew that Winry knew what he had wanted to say. "You know what Al?"

"What brother?" Al asked.

"I feel lucky." Ed said while putting his hand up to where a certain somebody had pecked him. He never knew that the girl walking out had heard what he had said to his brother.

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Originally I hadn't even planned to write this chapter. I was really nervous about writing about automail surgery. I thought for sure that I would mess it all up. I had originally written the next chapter with a little time skip but then when I got some of my reviews, they seemed excited about the automail surgery so I went back an wrote this. Sorry if I did a bad job. I wrote this in just two days so I think that I did a pretty good job.

Just to explain some things. Winry now knows that she has a crush on Ed. Ed is still denying it although he is still feeling for her. He just won't even admit it to himself. I thought that was a little confusing but that's what I was trying to get across in those last lines.

I want to know if updating twice a week would be something that you guys would want. I would update every Tuesday and Friday. Although if I miss a Tuesday every once in a while you can't get mad at me. If I get a few reviews telling me to update twice a week than I'll update next Tuesday. If you don't answer than I will take that as being a no, you would rather me update just Fridays.

Keep reading, reviewing, and writing.

FFG- Jo


	14. Chapter 14 Hospital Moment

Nick's question: If vegetarians eat vegetables than what do humanitarians eat? (Sorry that this doesn't have an original question by us.)

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA but I do own too many books that I don't have time to read. (Seriously, every time I go to a book store I buy a new book but I never seem to have time to read them. I really need a vacation again.)

**Chapter 14

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Now it had been three days since the surgery. (It was a Saturday.) Winry had visited the hospital everyday that week with Al, not only keeping company with Ed but checking up on how he was doing with the new automail as well.

Winry walked into Ed's room and he couldn't help but groan at the large amount of paper that she was holding. Winry snickered slightly at Ed's reaction to her. "What kind of a welcome was that?" she said smiling.

"The kind that means go away with all of your paperwork." Ed said sharply. He obviously wasn't in the best of moods. Then again, who would be after spending almost a week in the hospital without even being let outside. Ed huffed as Winry set all the papers that she had in her arms on the hospital room table and took off the backpack that she had been wearing.

"Somebody's in a bad mood." Winry stated making sure not to loose her temper at Ed.

"Well you wouldn't either if you were stuck in this place. There's nothing to do. I mean first the …"

"Food sucks," Winry had interrupted Ed. "and they make you drink your milk," Ed made a face as Winry continued **his** rant. "There's nothing ever to watch on TV, all the doctors won't even let you go to the bathroom by yourself, and last but not least all the nurses want to know everything about your girlfriend."

Unfortunately, in order to make sure that Winry didn't get in trouble with the hospital for not being Ed's family and still seeing him, they had to continue acting like they were girlfriend and boyfriend whenever anyone came in the room to see them.

Ed's face flushed at the last reason that he would have stated, had he gotten to finish his own rant. Winry knew him almost too well. It was time to get on a different subject. "So, are you going to check my automail again today?" Ed asked trying to change the subject.

_Why does Ed always bring that up right away when I see him? Doesn't he ever think of me as something besides his mechanic? _"It almost sounds as if you're trying to get rid of me Ed." Winry said as she walked to the left side of the bed and lifted the covers away from Ed's left leg.

Ed didn't respond to her statement, not sure what exactly he was supposed to say. He chose wisely in not saying anything.

"Okay Ed, now wiggle your toes," Winry told Ed as she watched his foot. It moved perfectly. After that she had him point and flex his foot. Then she had him sit up with his legs hanging off the hospital bed, as to check that his knee was working properly as well.

"Well besides being a little stiff, which is always to be expected of a new automail limb, you seem to be doing just fine." Winry said proud of the fact that she had done such an excellent job with Ed's leg. After all, most of the time major problems with automail occurred in the first 72 hours, so if nothing had occurred by now, then most likely nothing would.

"So am I allowed to get out of bed now?" Ed asked hopefully.

Winry sighed. She should have known that would have been the first thing that Ed asked. Ed never was one to stay still for too long. "I guess it wouldn't hurt too much." She said.

Ed practically leaped from the hospital bed and as his feet hit the floor, Winry saw an expression of pain flare up on his face before a look of determination covered it up. She winced as he took three steps looking fine… to anyone who didn't know Ed very well. Unfortunately for Winry, she did know him quite well and it was pretty obvious to her that he was in pain.

Winry knew better than to help him though. Ed was very hard headed about such things. She had been lucky enough that he had even asked her to do his automail instead of getting it behind her back. _So now I think that I'm lucky to do his automail? Of course I am now that I already finished the operation. The most stressful moment of my life I think. I wonder what Ed meant by that he felt lucky. What could that possibly mean?_

When Ed got back to his bed, he sat down and tried to act as if taking a few steps with his new automail hadn't hurt so much. It was then that Ed realized something. "Hey, wasn't Al supposed to come with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, he and I came together, but he had to go to the bathroom so I headed here on my own." Winry said. "He should have been here by now though."

"Where could he be?" Ed said sounding just a tad worried.

"Well, until he gets here, you're going to just have to work." Winry said fetching a pile of papers from the table where she had set them. "Here you go, now work." She said as she dumped them in Ed's lap.

Ed grunted slightly as the papers hit his lap. First he frowned at the papers and then he did the same to Winry who was grabbing a book from the bag she had brought. "What's that?" he asked, knowing that he didn't own such a book and that this way he could avoid working.

Winry sat down in the chair next to Ed's bed and got settled in before answering Ed. "It's my Alchemy I book." She said with a tone of distaste.

"How's that class going for you, by the way?" Ed asked trying to sound innocent.

Winry saw right through his plan of getting out of working, but she was so frustrated with the class, that she couldn't help but tell Ed. "It sucks!" she exclaimed, "I've only been in the class for five days and already we've had three quizzes, next week we are going to have a test, my book is falling apart, and I can't even understand what it's saying most of the time. At this rate I'll be failing this class by this Friday."

"Why don't I help you then?" Ed said carefully taking the old textbook from Winry's lap. _I'm just trying to get out of doing my own work. It's not like I just want to keep hearing her voice or anything._

"Would you really help me Ed?" Winry asked in surprise.

Ed had to concentrate in order not to blush at the look on Winry's face. _Why does she have to be so cute. Shoot! Get those thoughts out of your head Ed. You can't think about your best friend in that way. _Ed nodded at Winry.

Winry looked at all of his paperwork now sitting beside him on his bed. She bit her lip thinking about the paperwork that he still had to do. Ed couldn't help but stare at her lips that she was biting. _Her lips look soft. Ahhh! No! Stop thinking those thoughts! Damn hormones._

"Well I suppose you could help me for a little while" Winry said giving in to Ed's suggestion knowing full well that he was just trying to weasel out of paperwork. Ed grinned at Winry happy to be concentrating on Alchemy rather than boring papers. "But don't think that you're getting out of doing your paperwork." She said making sure that he knew for sure that he was still going to have to do his work.

Ed frowned at Winry's last statement, but figured that it was as good as it was going to get, so he opened up Winry's alchemy textbook to page one. "So what do you need help on?"

Then the two teens got very caught up in alchemy with Winry asking many questions and Ed explaining everything in terms much more explainable.

When Al and a girl with him both peeked in their heads to Ed's hospital room many hours later, they found both his brother and Winry fast asleep. There was an alchemy I book laying beside Ed, and Winry's head was resting with her head in her arms on Ed's lap, and Ed had fallen asleep with his right hand resting on Winry's head. It almost looked as if he had been stroking her hair when he fell asleep.

Al couldn't help but grin at Ed and Winry as Ella awed at them quietly before both slowly backed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind them deciding that they could go hangout for a while longer before introducing Ella to Ed and Winry.

* * *

Oooooo. "Who's Ella?" is probably what you are all asking. She's my OC! And what was Al doing for all those hours? Well, I'll tell you in the next chapter, Al's Meeting.

I will updating Friday, okay.

Reviews are good, yes they are definitely good. Keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	15. Chapter 15 Al's Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, but I do own Ella. YEAH! I own something.

Hey Freyjadour! (Sorry I just felt like putting this in here after talking to you all week.)

**Chapter 15

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**

Al really had to go to the bathroom. It had been one of those things that he had been just fine and then he had stood up and now he really had to go. There was no way that he was going to be able to talk to Ed before going.

"Winry I'm going to go to the bathroom before going to see Ed." Al said before walking away quickly to the nearest bathroom. Winry barely had time to nod to Al before he was out of site. After coming to see Ed practically a week, Al and Winry both knew the layout of the hospital quite well and they knew where all the restrooms were.

Al quickly went to the restroom and hurried out wanting to see his brother, but he made sure to walk slow enough to not slip.

Explain: Hospital floors are kept very clean, after all it's a hospital for Pete's sake. Anyway, Al had slipped a few times, never falling down all the way, but he had no wish to fall and thus he now was very careful about his speed in the hospital.

But just because he was being careful, didn't mean everyone else was too. "Watch out!" he heard someone yell right before he was knocked over by a young girl slipping and falling on top of him.

They were pretty much tangled in a mess of arms and legs. Not romantic at all. "I'm so sorry. I'm such a klutz." The girl said as she untangled herself from Al.

Al smiled at the petite girl for the first time really being able to take in her looks. She was a young teen, probably around his age. She had brown hair that waved slightly to flame her face as it fell barely past her shoulders. Then there was her eyes. They were a very dark brown that Al just seemed to fall into.

He smiled at her, really catching her attention, and said, "That's fine. The whole hospital seems to be slippery all the time. You don't have to blame yourself for being clumsy."

The girl smiled up at Al as he finally got completely untangled and stood up offering her a hand to help her up as well. If Al had thought her eyes were pretty, then he thought that her smile was gorgeous. Who knew something could be so small, cute, nice, reassuring, hopeful, and well, down right perfect. Al had a hard time containing his blush.

"Oh no, I'm not kidding about the being a klutz." She said as she took Al's hand and silent offer to help her up. She winced slightly when Al pulled her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Al asked as he recognized the expression on her face. She now was looking at her right hand, the one that Al had pulled her up on. "Is something wrong with your hand?" he asked leaning in to get a better look at it.

She looked up to speak to him and their brown eyes met only inches apart, both pulled back on instinct while blushing hard. "Sorry about that" Al stammered out scratching the back of his neck suddenly nervous.

"It's fine," the girl said then she walked up a little closer to Al to explain what she had been looking at. "You see here," she held up both of her hands for Al to see, "My right one is a little swollen from the fall, I must have fallen on it wrong or something."

"Wow, you must want to be a doctor or something when you grow up, to notice such a small difference." Al said a little impressed with the girl.

"Oh no! I don't want to be a doctor or anything, it's just that my Mom is a doctor and I can't ignore her all the time and she likes to randomly test me on medical stuff, so…" she said. "My Mom just started working here so I'm a little lost in trying to find her in this new setting. We just moved here from the country."

"Well I can help you with the lost thing. My brother has been here for practically this whole week, so I kind of have the hospital layout down." Al offered. He wanted to help the young girl as much as possible. "What's your name by the way?" Al asked.

"Oh I'm so stupid not to introduce myself. I'm Ella Mathews. And you are…" Ella prompted holding out her hand to shake Al's.

"Alphonse Elric, but everyone just calls me Al." Al said smiling kindly and taking Ella's hand in his own.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Al." Ella said also smiling while giving a firm shake of the hands. Al couldn't help but love the way that Ella said his name. It just sounded so perfect coming from her lips.

"It's very nice to meet you too Ella." Al responded back squeezing her hand back slightly not wanting to hurt the girl's hand anymore. "So where are we headed?"

"Well, first we need to get to some sort of sign in desk where I can find out where my Mother could be." Ella said not sure if such a thing existed.

"Right this way." Al said beckoning Ella to follow him as he turned to proceed down a hallway.

While walking to the front desk Al and Ella talked, getting better acquainted with each other. Ella found out that Al was skilled in alchemy and was impressed that he was so skilled at it, while Al discovered that Ella was an artist and was excited to see some of her work, that she promised to let him look at later. Not only that but Al also told her everything about Winry and Ed and how, according to everyone, they were in denial about being in love.

Al was enjoying himself immensely with Ella and couldn't help but think how her klutziness was endearing. He of course was helping her whenever she slipped, to make sure that she didn't fall down all the way. Overall he saw that Ella was a sweet, naïve, kind, young girl. He was sad to hear that Ella had never met her Dad, and he changed the subject because she seemed a little sad about it too.

All too soon they made it to the front desk where they got a map of the hospital for Ella and the room number that her Mom should currently be in. "So I guess this is good-bye for now." Al said a little sad that he might not be able to see the girl again.

"Well isn't your brother still in the hospital still?" Ella said in a slightly hopeful voice, or was that just Al's imagination.

"Well actually if everything is alright with his leg" Al had already explained all about what had happened to Ed's leg to Ella. "Than he should be let out tomorrow, although the doctor will probably want him to walk with crutches for a while to avoid too much pain. Though brother probably will refuse to use any crutches given to him."

"Is there any way that I could possibly meet your brother and Winry?" Ella asked. She was slightly afraid of the answer. Perhaps Al didn't want to hang out with her anymore. She should leave him alone, but when she looked at Al, thinking that she would see him being very uncomfortable with the situation, she was only met with a smile that she couldn't help but return with a smile and a small giggle.

Al couldn't help but chuckle a little at Ella. "Well, after we check in with your Mom, I could take you to see brother and Winry if you really wanted to meet them."

Ella smiled radiantly at Al, causing him to feel his cheeks warm up slightly. "I'd love that Al." she said still smiling.

Then they turned and continued talking as they went to first meet Ella's Mom. It took maybe six or seven minutes to go across the hospital and up a few floors to where Ms. Mathews was working. As they walked they talked about everything from books to animals. Much to Al's relief, they shared many common interests making the conversation easy and comfortable.

Then they came to the wing that Ella's Mom worked in, Ella said "Al I need you to stay in this waiting room while I find my Mom."

Al gave her a confused look and feeling guilty Ella explained. "It's not like I don't want you to meet my Mom or anything, it's just that my Mom likes to talk and so when I introduce her to anyone knew, it can take a couple of hours to get away from her again."

Al understood Ella well enough to trust her and let her go talk to her Mom by herself. Not five minutes later was Ella back after telling her Mom what was going on. They headed over to Ed's hospital room to introduce Ella to everyone.

When Al and Ella got to Ed's hospital room, they found both Ed and Winry asleep with Winry's head in Ed's lap and Ed's hand was resting gently on the girl's head. Al couldn't help but smile at the two and Ella was awing at them already knowing that she liked them together as a couple.

Of course they both backed silently out of the room closing the door behind them, not wanting to wake the two love birds. Then they couldn't help but smile one another. "See what I mean now?" Al said grinning at Ella.

"Just like you said, they are perfect for each other. Even I can see it and I don't even know them that well."

* * *

I like my OC and I hope you all did too. Sorry if you didn't like her. I'm really enjoying writing all of these chapters. I know that there wasn't much Winry Ed fluff but please don't get mad. I swear that in a few chapters there will be some really big fluff.

Also, I think that I'm going to write a sequel to this story. (Yeah I haven't even gotten close to done and I'm already starting to plan a sequel. Gosh I'm strange.) I talked to my sis this week and when I got her opinion on some stuff, I decided to write a sequel to this. (See most of this fic I have pretty planned out with what I want to do, but I haven't written all the chapters.)

Keep reviewing, reading, and writing.

FFG- Jo


	16. Chapter 16 First Day Begins

Nick's Simile: (Okay Nick couldn't think of any questions and we found this packet of similes online that teachers across the country can submit from actual high school essays, and they are all very funny so we decided to tell you guys a few of them. We do not own any of them!) Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master. (Okay we thought this was funny and we hope that you did too.)

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. I can't think of something even semi funny to put here so… oh well.

OKAY AGAIN I'M HAVING A SHOUT OUT TO YOU FREJADOUR BECAUSE LAST TIME I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU DIDN'T NOTICE! he he he he he. Just messing with you.

Sorry about that to everyone who is like what the heck is she talking about. Don't worry about it.

**Chapter 16

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**

Al was sighing again and Ed was a little frustrated with it. Ed had gotten to leave the hospital on Sunday afternoon and now he was at home with Al on strict orders not to walk unless necessary. Ed was just happy that they hadn't made him use crutches.

Tomorrow he would be back in school and yes the doctors had told him that he could go back and walk to each of his classes, as long as he left each of them five minutes early, so as to beat the rush during the passing periods.

So pretty much everything was going well for Ed, except the massive amount of makeup work he had from all his teachers, and the fact that his little brother was sighing just about every five seconds. "Would you just call her already!" Ed said a little annoyed.

Al had told him all about this girl, Ed was pretty sure her name was Ella, that he had met at the hospital on accident. The girl had even given Al her phone number before she left. As it was, Ed hadn't gotten the chance to meet her because she had to leave before he had woken up on Saturday.

Ed blushed slightly at the thought of what had occurred on Saturday afternoon. Winry and him had fallen asleep together. Although nothing really embarrassing had happened, Ed was still finding himself blushing slightly at the memory.

Anyway back to Al, "Al! Why won't you just call her? There's a reason that she gave you her phone number." Ed said.

"She's probably busy with moving still brother. I don't want to bother her." Al said trying to convince himself as much as his brother.

"Better her than me" Ed said under his breath. Now for the rest of the day Ed had to deal with a daydreaming Al and a ton of makeup work. Oh joy!

Monday morning with Ella

"What do you mean?" Ella asked the principle of her new school. She currently was sitting in the lady's office and had been dealt a very uncomfortable position.

"Well Ella, somehow all of your paperwork wasn't sent to this school. I do believe that it was sent to the high school in the district over. And so, we really don't have anything for you to do today. I guess you can go home and just start tomorrow." The principle said.

Normally Ella would have counted her blessings and gone home happily. Unfortunately, this wasn't a normal situation in that Ella didn't live as close to her new school as she had to her old school. Her Mom had driven her to school that day before rushing to the hospital. The only ride that Ella had to go home was the bus that left after school.

"Umm Miss," Ella tried to grab the principle's attention before continuing. "I don't really have a ride home, well not until the bus comes" Ella blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Oh well that's quite a problem for you." The woman said thinking hard about what the new student could do for the day.

"If you don't mind, I could just sit in one of those chairs and read until the end of the day." Ella said pointing to some waiting chairs in the main office.

The principle frowned. It's not like she needed the chairs, but the idea of someone sitting in the main office all day and being able to watch her that whole time didn't sound that appeasing to her. Suddenly her face brightened as an idea came to mind.

"Instead of you sitting around here all day, you shall accompany one of our students to all of their classes and get better acquainted with the layout of the school and its students." The principal said smiling.

Ella's hopes of just reading all day sank to oblivion with that statement. This was going to be a terrible day. She was going to have to tag along with some random student that would just get annoyed at her for existing and both of them would probably just fake politeness trying to seem like they could become best friends or something. It was going to be terrible.

"Ahh, you can go around with one of our sophomore representatives from student council. You're a sophomore right?" the principal asked. Ella just nodded seeing that there was no way that she could sway this woman to change her mind on this topic. "Oh! I know a good guy to show you around."

Ella's eyes widened slightly. _A guy? Did she just say a guy? This is bad. I'm not very good with guys. The only guy I've ever hit it off with at all is… Al… yeah he's the only one and there's a slight chance that I may never see him again. This is going to be even more terrible than I thought._

"Come with me." The principal said beckoning Ella to follow her down the busy hallway before the school day started. "Fortunately I know where this guy hangs out in the morning. He's a member of the student council and a very good and polite student." She said.

Ella knew better than to get her hopes up, although she couldn't help but hope that this boy would be as kind and nice as Al had been that weekend. Maybe she could be friends with this boy too.

Many students stared at Ella as she walked past them following the principle. _Staying with anyone can't be as bad as following this woman. I'm getting more stares than I did for years at my old school._

The principle entered a room that didn't quite seem like a normal schoolroom. It had two desks in the front where one would expect the teacher's larger desk to be. However these two desks were the exact same size as all the rest of the desks. Speaking of which only twelve desks were in the room, in two rows of six, although instead of facing the two desks at the front they faced toward the middle of the room.

Ella couldn't count the people in the room as they were all clumped up in a large group talking together. They obviously were all very good friends. Four of the boys, probably seniors, had some money out and it seemed as if some bet or something was going on with them. One of the boys had pictures of something and was showing anyone and everyone who would look. He had a nice looking blushing girl beside him. Then there was a girl with glasses who was looking very uncomfortable as one of the boys of the group seemed to be preaching something to her and there were… dare she say… sparkles?... around the boy. Then there was a cute looking boy who was teasing a blond boy slightly. Both boys arguing had blond girls next to them who were both looking very disapproving of the boys that they stood next to. Then there was a blond boy who had his back to Ella and the principal as they came up to the group of friends.

Ella did a double take with one of the blond girls and the blond boy that stood next to her getting teased by the taller darker haired boy. _No it couldn't be, could it?_ Ella stared at the boy with his back to her. She recognized his short blond hair. Then she heard what confirmed all of her hopes.

The boy laughed. He was laughing at the blond boy that was arguing with the dark haired one, but Ella knew in that moment exactly who it was.

"Alphonse Elric." The principal said causing the room to go quiet and for all eyes to shift to the principal of the school.

"Yes, ma'am?" Al asked as he turned slowly to face the principle of the school. Then his eyes landed on Ella and widened as he blushed slightly, a fact that didn't go missed by anyone in the room.

"Ella?" Al asked unsure now that he was making the right connection.

"Hi Al" Ella simply said.

* * *

Awww, I loved writing up to that moment at the end. I thought it was cute, you don't have to, I did though. Anyway, it was a little predictable but what the hey. Short chapter but this was a good stopping point for it.

Keep reviewing. Keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	17. Chapter 17 Introductions

Nick's simile: (We don't own this) His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 17

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**

"Hey Al" Ella said smiling at the boy who was blushing slightly. What she didn't realize was that her cheeks were slightly pink as well.

"Oh good, so you already know each other. Well here's the deal Al. Miss Ella's schedule got mixed up with another school's and therefore she's going to accompany you to all of your classes. As you are a sophomore representative for the student council you must show this girl the school and explain to her how things work around here. Okay?"

Al had been listening to the principal, but his eyes had never once left Ella's. It almost seemed as if all time had stopped for these two.

"Well, take good care of Ella." The principal said one last time before she left the room, leaving Ella on her own.

For a moment no one really said anything due to the fact that their youngest, Al, was just staring at this new girl. This was definitely a new development with Al. Al had always been kind to girls, but he had never been left speechless by one. This girl must be something special.

"So this is Ella." Ed stated casually.

Both Al and Ella blushed, Al due to the fact that it was obvious from Ed's statement that he had been talking about Ella, and Ella for the same reason. Winry on the other hand looked more curiously at the girl. Ed had come to school complaining that Al wouldn't just call this girl named Ella and that he was getting annoyed with his little brother. Thus she knew that this girl was already special to Al, something that was not common.

"Well Al, aren't you going to introduce us all to your friend?" Mustang asked in a teasing tone.

Al startled just a bit. Had he really just been sitting there silent for the last five minutes. "Well… Umm…" Al got up and stood next to Ella, making her feel a whole lot better. So many eyes on her had made her feel quite uncomfortable. "Okay… Everyone this is Ella Mathews. She just moved here and I met her at the hospital on Saturday."

He looked at Ella and when she was looking at him, he quickly turned back to the group determined not to blush anymore. He started introducing everyone as he pointed at them. "That's my brother Ed, you've seen him and Winry before, but that's Winry just in case you can't remember."

Then Ella smiled at Winry and Ed with a little twinkle in her eye. Riza could already tell that this new girl knew all about Ed and Winry's situation.

Al continued "That's Alex Luis Armstrong," when Ella looked at Al a little confused to which one Al was pointing at, he started expanding his answers a little more. "He's the one posing, Sheska, the girl with the glasses, Roy Mustang, the dark haired boy, Riza Hawkeye, the girl with her hair in a clip, Maes Hughes, the boy with the pictures, Gracia, the girl that he has the many pictures of, Jean Havoc, the boy with a toothpick in his mouth, Heymans Breda, the boy with red hair, Vato Falman, the boy with grey hair, and last Kain Fuery, the boy with glasses."

The group began to surround the new girl wanting to either get a closer look at her or to get to know her better. Ella was a little overwhelmed, but at the same time she was really excited. Of all the ways she had expected for her first day of school to start this hadn't been one of them. It was so much better.

Plus, as long as Al was at her side, she didn't feel quite as overwhelmed. She smiled up at the boy just as he smiled at her at the exact same time. Until the bell rang to tell everyone to go to their first classes, Ella patiently answered the many questions that everyone threw at her. Then the day proceeded as Ella walked with Al to his classes. By the end of the day Ella had lost count of all the time she had even slightly flushed at Al.

"So Ella how do you like our school so far? Is there any questions that you have for me?" Al asked in the last five minutes before they would get let out of the last class of the day.

"Well…I was wondering if it was still possible to get in Student Council?" Ella asked remembering how much fun that class had been in particular.

It had been so funny with Mustang's teasing Ed and Ed flaring up. Then Hughes with all of his millions of pictures had been annoying yet at the same time, Ella had enjoyed Al trying to save her from a fate of looking at the many pictures. What had been the best was when Hughes had changed tactics and decided to show Al all the photos instead.

Her knight in shinning armor had gotten trapped in what he had been trying to save her from. Ella couldn't stop giggling at Al's fate.

Winry, Riza, and Sheska all were really nice to Ella and she was happy to make so many new friends in just one day.

Back to the present, "I think that you could still get in considering we just lost one of our members and the fact still remains that somehow I'm the only sophomore representative." Al said thoughtfully.

"Really?!" Ella said excited. She had been so afraid that she wouldn't be allowed in the class. Then she did something that she never thought that she would do. She jumped up and hugged Al who was still sitting in his seat.

At first Ella almost pulled away but she figured that since she had already started hugging the boy, then there would be no harm in really hugging him. Al was blushing, but almost on instinct he put his arms around the girl and hugged back.

As she felt his arms wrap around her body, she couldn't help but feel as if she was in heaven. But all things can't last forever and after a few moments both of the two pulled back blushing madly, but still very happy.

"So I take that as you want to join Student Council?" Al asked trying not to linger on the hug.

"Yep." Ella said smiling.

"What else are you going to take besides your core classes (science, math, English, and history) and student council. You still need two more classes." Al asked curiously.

"I think that I'm going to take shooting for a P.E. and then I'll probably take Art." Ella said thoughtfully.

"You said that I could see some of your drawings sometime, at the hospital. Can I see some of them now?" he asked eagerly.

Ella smiled. It just happened that she had some of her drawings with her that she could show Al. She didn't want to show off to Al or anything, but she was pretty proud of her artwork and she hoped that he would like it as much as her. She wordlessly dug out of her bag a folder that she kept her drawings in and handed it to Al.

Al slowly opened the folder and pulled out her drawings one at a time handling each with much care. He looked at each of the small drawings curiously and in wonderment that Ella had really drawn each of them. They were all just so life like. He could have sworn, except for a glossy coating, they were practically photos. "These are amazing Ella."

The girl blushed at the complement. Many people said her pictures were good but Ella had never been very sure to believe them. She felt that they were good, but so many people gave false complements to gain people's trust, that Ella had never really believed them. She knew Al wouldn't lie to her. "You really think so?" she asked making sure that she had heard him correctly.

"Ella, these are amazing." Al said looking up directly into the girl's eyes. "I especially like to one with the gnarled tree. It looks so real."

"Actually that tree really does exist." Ella said picking up the drawing from the pile as to look at it a little closer. "It was a tree that was in the park near my old house. See there's a playground in the background." Ella said pointing to the right edge of the picture where a blurry playground could be made out but only just.

"Wow, I'd love to see that tree in real life. It's so interesting." Al said still staring at the drawing.

"Yeah, I loved that tree. So many people called it ugly." Ella said also only looking at her drawing.

"It's not ugly. It's just misunderstood. It's different, not ugly." Al said.

At Al's comment about the tree, Ella looked up at him in wonder. "That's what I called it." She said.

"What… different?" Al said now looking at Ella who looked back at the drawing before he could catch her eyes again.

"No… misunderstood. I used to call it my misunderstood tree." Ella said refusing to look at Al's eyes, afraid of blushing again. However she couldn't resist for very long and she had to look at the boy wanting to see him again.

As she looked at him, he looked back at her and their eyes met like magnets and locked. Both found that they couldn't look away and were slowly leaning closer. Closer and closer their faces got and just as their lips were about to meet… **BRING!** They both almost jumped out of their seats as the bell rang to dismiss them from school.

"Hey Ella." Al was the first to speak. "Don't you have to catch the bus?"

"Oh shoot!" Ella practically cursed. "Bye Al! I'll see you tomorrow." Ella yelled as she ran out the door not realizing that she left her folder of drawings on the desk.

Al immediately noticed and ran to the door to yell after the girl. "Ella! You forgot your pictures!" Too bad she was too far down the noisy hall to hear Al's yell.

* * *

Awww. They were about to kiss and then the bell kicked in. I'm terrible I know. Keep reading and reviewing.

Several people have said things about Ed and Ella having some sort of relationship in their reviews and it came to my attention that I needed to write something with that, so I'm not telling you what the next chapter is, but I will tell you that Ed and Ella will have a sisterly brotherly relationship. I hope that that is all fine with you.

Keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	18. Chapter 18 Money Problems

Nick's Simile: (we don't own this) He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at the solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

Disclaimer: (Okay from now on I'm not going to even try to be funny, because I just sound like an idiot.) I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 18

* * *

**

Ella was running to the bus. She had gone by the office very quickly to make sure that they had known what she wanted to take for the remainder of the year before she had headed for the bus. Unfortunately, in the office, it turns out that they could quickly make her a schedule and thus she had been forced to wait for a minute when her schedule would be given to her.

By waiting that minute and going by the office, Ella now had very little time to get to the bus before it would leave, thus now she was running as fast as she could, to get to the bus, while at the same time was trying to stuff her new schedule in her bag, that they had given her in the office.

Not only that but Ella couldn't help but think of the day that she had been having with Al and what had almost happened. _Did I really almost kiss him? There is no way that I did. It must have just been in my imagination. _Ella sighed as she ran.

Truth be told she knew that her feelings for the boy were already starting to be more that those of a friend. It scared her though. She liked Al but she knew that he probably would need a lot more time to develop any feelings along those lines for her, but she could wait. She never was one to rush things too much.

Regrettably these things didn't mix well though and when Ella wasn't exactly looking where she was going, she ran into something, or rather someone. Ella fell back and luckily landed on her butt and wasn't hurt too bad. _Just my luck, there's practically no one in the hallways and the one person that is out, I run into._ She of course immediately started apologizing to whoever it was that she had run in to.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and…" Ella stopped apologizing when she looked up to see a boy standing there looking happy for some odd reason. In Ella's honest opinion his smile looked hungry and a little amused and she instantly didn't like whoever this guy was.

Being the polite girl that she is though, Ella just simply stood up and apologized again as the upperclassman just stared at her cockily. "I'm truly sorry, but I really need to get to the bus so please excuse me." She started to walk around him trying to get away as quickly as possible.

Disappointingly, she didn't get too far away before he called out to her. "Excuse me miss."

Ella sighed. She really needed to get to the bus, but she had bumped into the person so the least she could do was be polite to them. "Yes?" she said as she smiled at the boy when she turned around to face him.

"Do you happen to have 10 dollars on you?" he asked nonchalantly.

Ella was surprised and a little confused. Why would this boy just ask for ten dollars from her? She didn't even really know the guy.

The guy noticing Ella's bafflement tried to explain, "You see me and my friend were talking in our last period class about the bills that we use and who happened to be on them, and neither of us could come up with who was on the ten dollar bill." He said slyly.

That makes sense, Ella supposed. _He just wants to see who is on the 10 dollar bill. Couldn't hurt to let him see. I suppose that this is one way that I can try to make up running into him._ Ella quickly reached into one of the side pockets of her bag that she always kept extra money in, in case of an emergency. She pulled out a ten dollar bill and held it up for the boy to see.

"Thank you very much." He said as he snatched the bill away from the girl and started to walk away with her money.

Ella was speechless. How could he just take her money like that. He had no right to. She started to take a step forward to go after the boy but a voice stopped her from proceeding with her plans.

"What do you think that you are doing Yoki" a voice said as another boy rounded a corner and stopped Yoki dead in his tracks.

Ella was a little surprised but happy to know that she knew this new boy that had stopped the thief.

"Edward Elric, one of the top students at the school and a very skilled member of the alchemist team." Yoki said trying to look as if Ed didn't faze him whatsoever.

"Yoki. I repeat what are you doing?" Ed asked glaring at the boy who had just stuffed Ella's money into his pocket.

Now that the money was out of sight, Yoki seemed to have a little more confidence. "I'm not doing anything." He said trying to sound innocent and only succeeded in sounding guilty.

"Give the girl back her money." Ed said calmly looking Yoki directly in the eyes.

Yoki was startled and Ella was impressed. Yoki didn't stay startled for long though, he began to smile and asked "What ever are you talking about Edward?"

Ed was annoyed. He had clearly seen this creep taking Ella's money and now the guy was just denying it. What an ass! "You have until the count of three to give back her money, otherwise you know what I can do to you." Ed said glaring at Yoki.

Yoki was starting to get uneasy about this but at the same time he was a greedy bastard and he wanted to keep the money. "Hey just think about this for a second Edward." he said.

"One" Ed said still glaring.

"If you want we could even split the money, like half and half" Yoki said in an attempt to bribe Ed.

"Two." Ed said taking a slow step forward toward Yoki.

"She ran into me! She owes me something, just think of this as payback." Yoki said slightly panicked. If he could convince Edward to see his way then he might get away with the money he assumed.

Ed paused now looking down at the ground. Ella could see the anger radiating off of the boy though as his hands clenched tightly. Yoki on the other hand was an idiot and was actually starting to think that he had swayed the alchemist's mind.

Suddenly Ed looked up and at Yoki straight in the eye. "Three" he said as he pulled back his right arm and punched they jerk right in the face. Yoki fell back hard onto the floor with his nose bleeding and maybe even broken from Ed's fist.

Ed stepped up and stood over the greedy bastard and began to speak. "First of all, you're a liar to try denying that you didn't steal anything, secondly, I don't take bribes, and finally, only a creep like you would actually try to defend robbing a girl of her money. I don't want to ever see you around this girl again, got it." Ed said all surprisingly calm and scaring Yoki half to death.

Yoki was wide eyed in terror and reached into his pocket to pull out the ten dollar bill and threw it at Edward as he started backing up on his butt and finally got up and ran away as quick as he could, which actually wasn't too fast.

For a moment Ed and Ella just stood there in silence before he stooped down and picked up the bill that had just fallen to the floor after Yoki had thrown it. He then turned around and held it out to Ella grinning at the girl.

She was surprised at his seemingly change in attitude and didn't take the money. "You can take it you know. I don't bite or anything." Ed said still smirking at the girl.

Ella couldn't help but smile at Ed and took the bill from his hand as she spoke. "Thank you Edward, for everything, not just getting my money back but for defending me as well. Although, wasn't that taking it a little far with that punch?" she asked cautiously.

Ed was a little taken aback by the girl's worry, but then he chuckled to himself at what she had just said.

Ella was confused. Why was Ed laughing at her. "I'm sorry did I miss something funny?" she asked politely.

"No, it's just that you sound exactly like Al. You know thinking that I may have taken it too far. That's exactly what Al would have said to me." Ed said explaining his amusement.

"Oh." Ella said as her face tinted just a little pink once again as she realized that she sounded like Al.

Ed was still looking quite amused at her and then he suddenly started to walk past her heading to the student council room to meet up with Al and Winry. As he passed Ella though he ruffled her hair and took a few more steps and with his back to her he spoke again. "Be a good friend for my brother. He really likes you." Ed said completely serious. "Al's had enough heartbreak to fill his life. He needs a few more friends that he can rely on. Just be nice to him." Then Ed proceeded to continue walking down the hall.

Ella was stunned. She knew about Ed and Al's past from talking to Al at the hospital, but she what she hadn't realized was that Ed cared so much about his little brother. Ella decided to be bold for once in her life. She turned around and yelled back to Ed who had gotten pretty far down the hallway. "I swear that I'll be the best friend for him ever!" She shouted before running away from Ed and toward the buses.

Ed stopped when he heard the girl shout out to him and he turned around to watch her walk away as he smiled to himself. _I like this new girl. Looks like we have a new member of the group. She'll be good for Al. He needs some more friends closer to his age._

Then he turned back around and proceeded to the Student Council room to meet up with Al and Winry so that they could head home.

* * *

So, I had wanted to do something with Ed and Ella becoming closer, but I hadn't thought of what, and then on Friday this idea came to me, although I can't take full credit for it because my sister thought of the idea of using Yoki as the thief guy.

For those of you that don't know, Yoki is the guy in one of the episodes of the anime that tries to bribe Ed and Ed ends up fake bribing him. I thought that it was really cool of my sis to think of him as this character in this chapter.

Also, a lot of you guys seem to be worried that I'm not going to get back on Ed and Winry. Trust me, there is going to be more fluff and cuteness between them more than anyone else in this fic. I'm currently writing the Ella arc though so right now I'm having more stuff with Al and Ella. You guys just have to be patient, no matter how hard it is. He he he

Umm… I'm sorry to let you guys know that I might not be able to update quickly for a while. My dance class finally decided where they are going to compete, so now I have extra rehearsals on the weekends. I'll try to update often though. Actually if I have a chapter written I will update it so it might be one of those things that I update chapters just days after another. Sorry.

Any reviews are greatly appreciated. Keep reading, reviewing, and writing.

FFG- Jo


	19. Chapter 19 Book Bag

Nick's Simile: (We don't own these) She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was a room-temperature Canadian beef.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 19**

"So how do you guys like Ella?" Al asked the student council group that had met up before school the next morning.

"She's so sweet Al." Winry said already sure that she loved the new girl.

"She's nice Al, a little naïve," Ed said remembering the previous day's incident with Yoki, "but nice. Plus you like her so she's gotta be good, although you're a little naïve yourself." Ed said as he looked at his brother smirking.

"Besides, it's pretty clear that you like her Al." Mustang said pointing out the obvious. Riza elbowed him hard in the side while Winry glared at Mustang for teasing Al about his new crush.

"Just don't hold back telling her that you like her, like Ed and Winry are." Roy said not taking Riza's elbow seriously. Both Ed and Winry slightly blushed and made sure not to look at each other. Most of the group had to stifle laughs from the two's apparent embarrassment.

Riza sighed. The two would get together on their own time. They didn't need Roy teasing them so much and making them almost determined to not fall for each other. _If Roy undoes all my hard work to get them together. I swear I'll…_ Just then a small click was heard and Roy felt a gun poking into his side with Riza's hand holding it.

"How in hell were you given permission to carry a gun in the school!?" Roy asked partially scared and partially curious. After all he knew that Riza wouldn't truly hurt him, but he knew that she could.

"I told the principal I needed it to make sure all the student council paperwork got done." Riza answered calmly as if it was no big deal. "She agreed with me."

What Roy had said to Al was having a different affect on him than the rest of the group. By not telling Ella that he liked her, he was being as stubborn as his brother. That could only cause problems. Just then he saw Ella run past the student council room looking worried.

"Here's your chance Al." he heard Winry cheering him on to go after Ella.

Then the rest of the room cheer him on. "Go Al! You can do it! Ahh it's so beautiful just like my muscular physique! Five bucks he does it! Make that ten! Go for it Al!" and other cheers Al heard as he was pushed from the room to go after Ella.

Ella

_How could I be so forgetful!? _Ella was currently running back to her last period class to get her folder of drawings that she had left there. She had been so caught up in getting to the bus on time that she had left them sitting right there on Al's desk. She hadn't even noticed that she had misplaced them until she had gotten home. She smiled involuntarily when Al's image popped up into her head. _That boy is just too nice and cute and generous and caring and… Yep I definitely am crushing on him. I wonder if he could like me too._

Just at that moment the tile floor in the school changed to carpet and being the clumsy girl that she is, Ella tripped.

"Oof" for the most part she was undamaged except her hands hurt a little and she had a little carpet burn on her right knee. "Oh no" Ella said in frustration. What she was annoyed about was the fact that her book bag wasn't very good and it had gone flying open. Now all of her books, papers, pencils, and pens were scattered on the ground.

She quickly began to start picking it all up. "Need help Ella?" she heard someone ask. She looked up to meet the face of none other than Al. Unconsciously she blushed at her apparent lack of coordination.

"I fell again." She simply said half smiling at the boy who hadn't even waited for an answer before he had started helping her pick up her stuff.

"I figured." Al said. "Oh and you left this back in the room yesterday." He said as he pulled out her folder from his backpack.

Her face shined as he handed her some of her belongings that had scattered along with her folder. "Thank you Al. I was so worried that I had lost this." Ella said referring to her folder of sketches.

As Ella turned to go to try to find somewhere to hang out before school, Al called out to her. "Ella wait!" She couldn't help but stop wanting to know what was up with Al.

"Yeah, what is it Al?" she asked concerned.

"Umm… It's just that…" Al couldn't quite spit out his words.

She took a step forward to Al. "Is everything okay?" she asked even more concerned.

Al was about to say that not everything was but then he chickened out. He may have liked Ella a lot, maybe more than a friend, but this was moving too fast. He had only known the girl for a few days. She would probably get scared off by his sudden forwardness.

"Yeah, everything is just fine. Umm… would you like to come hang out in the student council room with everyone else?" Al asked hoping that she would.

Ella smiled, she had hoped that Al might ask her to hang out with him and the rest of the gang today too, but she had been a little afraid that they might not have liked her. "I'd love to." She said and they both just stood there for a moment in an awkward silence. "Umm Al?"

"Yeah?" Al said curiously.

"I don't really know the way to the student council room. Honestly I'm not quite sure how to get to most places in the school." Ella admitted a little embarrassed at her lack of direction.

"Oh that's fine" Al said "Just follow me, and when we get to the student council room I can tell you where to find all of your classes."

Ella couldn't help but feel her stomach do a little flip as she heard that Al wanted to help her and apparently spend more time with her, even if it was just as friends. Then they proceeded back to the student council room.

When they walked back in the room, everyone was extremely disappointed to see that the two were only talking and nothing else. No holding hands or looking deep into one another's eyes.

Riza sighed, if she didn't know better she would think that both Elric boys were idiots. They were just oblivious. _Actually, Ed is oblivious and Al is just being careful. If he waits too long though, then he's going to end up just like his big brother. Speaking of which… _Riza looked over to see Winry and Ed talking, well actually it was more like arguing over something again.

Sorry for the late update I actually had a good day with writing and now I have some chapters ready to update except for editing them. So this week I should be able to update on time, after that things could get a little hectic.

Okay this chapter was really short but I couldn't do much more with it and this was a good stopping place for it.

Next chapter should be out very soon, I know that not much happened in this chapter, but I can swear that a really cute chapter is coming up that you will all enjoy. He he he. I'm very excited about that chapter.

Keep reading and writing.

FFG- Jo


	20. Chapter 20 Couple or Not

Nick's Simile: (We do not own this) She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes before it throws up.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Anything in ' ' means that it's written on the note. This may not make sense now but it will later. Just wanted to clear that up before I started.

**Chapter 20

* * *

**

Two weeks had passed and Ella found herself as just being one of the group now. She hung out with them in the mornings and Student Council, which was now one of her favorite classes. Fortunately Ella and Al shared many classes including student council. She, of course, had taken the seat that was empty beside Al.

Currently the two were in student council class and for about half of the period they had been wanting to talk to one another. Now they were both trying to get some paperwork done, and as they were both very studious, they had managed to still get some paperwork done even with the distraction of each other.

Now Al had finally given up on not talking to Ella, but the boy was smart. As long as he wasn't disrupting the rest of the members of student council, he could communicate with Ella. Talking out loud was out of the question.

So he took a sheet of paper out of one of his binders and wrote something on it before passing it to Ella. Ella read it. 'How are you?' She peaked at Al blushing slightly before carefully writing back a response and handing back the note.

'I'm happy as I've ever been. I wish we could talk, but this will do' Al smiled and wrote back.

'I'd rather write then get threatened by Hawkeye and her gun. It's amazing that the school actually let her carry around a gun.' Ella read.

'Hey I have a question for you. How long have Riza and Roy been going out?' Al almost choked when he read what Ella had just written.

'What are you talking about. They aren't going out.' Al hesitantly wrote on the paper a little afraid of what Riza might do if she found this note. He tossed it on to Ella's desk.

Ella was surprised to hear that the two weren't together. She laughed at herself slightly as she wrote back. There were some words that seemed to be scratched though but Al still managed to get that Ella had written at first 'It's just that…' and then she had written 'Sorry, my mistake. What do you want to talk about?'

Al read what his friend had written and now he wanted to know what she was going to say, he was curious. 'Just that what?'

'They are always peeking at each other. I swear that half of the times that I look up, one of them is looking at the other from the corner of their eyes.' Ella wrote a little embarrassed that she had been the only one to notice.

She handed the note back to Al who opened and read it swiftly. His eyes widened slightly and he peeked at Ella who was looking at him without really looking like she was. She tilted her head slightly so as to motion for Al to look over at Mustang and Hawkeye.

Al looked over in Roy and Riza's direction, and was surprised to see Riza peeking carefully at Mustang. Then she looked back at her paperwork and began writing something. Just as her pencil began moving again, Mustang looked up and rolled his head as if he was stretching out his neck. Al and Ella could tell that it was an act though, because Roy's eyes never left Riza.

Al smiled slightly looking over at Ella who also happened to be smiling at Roy and Riza too. He couldn't wait until after class to further discuss the matter with Ella. Looks like Ella and him had another couple to try to get together.

That day after school

"So what did your Mom say?" Al asked. He had asked Ella if she could start walking home with him, Ed, and Winry after school so that they could hangout some more, plus ridding the bus wasn't that fun and he wanted to sort of "save" her from it. She had to okay it with her Mom to see if it was okay because her Mom would have to pick her up later on at Al and Ed's apartment.

Ella smiled at Al. He was so anxious to spend time with her, she couldn't help but hope that maybe it was for reasons more than just being friends. "My Mom said it would be fine and that she would pick me up around 5ish." Ella said happy that she was getting to walk home with Al, Ed, and Winry.

"That works out great! I have to be at work at 5:30" Al said. "You don't mind waiting until the end of Alchemy practice before walking home, do you?" He asked as he took Ella's hand in his own and began walking to the school Gyms leading her along so that she wouldn't get lost again, as she had already a number of times. "Winry will be there, you can hang out with her while we practice."

Ella couldn't help but blush slightly at Al's hand holding her own. He was just too cute when he was being nice. (which was all the time.) "Al, you know that I love watching you do alchemy, so I'd love to watch with Winry," popped out of her mouth without thought.

"Thanks." Al said relived that Ella was okay with staying at school a little longer and that she didn't mind waiting. He had felt so stupid for forgetting to tell her that he had Alchemy practice, before he had asked her to come home with him.

They walked into the gym that the alchemy team was going to practice at. Al regretfully had to let go of Ella's hand and go over to where the rest of his team was. Ella headed over to Winry who was watching from the stands.

"Hey Winry." Ella said greeting her.

"Hey Ella." Winry said smiling. She liked Ella. _She's a good match for Al. It's so obvious that he likes her a lot. Maybe even loves her. Lucky._

Ella waved and smiled at Al when he looked over his shoulder at her. Winry couldn't help but feel happy for Ella and Al, but she was a little jealous too. _It's terrible knowing that you like someone who will never like you back. _Winry thought looking at Ed. Ella couldn't help but notice where Winry was looking. She didn't say anything though because she knew better than to rush the couple.

Speaking of couples, she wondered how long Riza and Roy had been crushing on one another. "Hey Winry who do you think would look good with Mustang?" Ella asked carefully.

The question caught Winry a little off guard. "I've honestly never thought too much about it. Why do you ask?" Winry asked a little confused.

"Well I think that I know someone that likes him." Ella said explaining. "I just want to know if she would be good for him."

"Oh, that makes sense. Who's the girl?" Winry asked curiously.

"I think that Riza likes him."

Winry smiled at Ella. She had of course figured out that Riza had feelings for Mustang when she had asked her back on the first day of school and had received no answer. (Look back at Chapter 3 if you don't remember this.) "So how did you figure it out?" she asked curiously.

"Well they are always looking at one another" Ella said happy that someone besides herself had figured it out. "How do you know? I mean, did Riza tell you herself?" Ella asked hopefully.

Winry sighed. "No, honestly I don't even think that she knows herself. But I asked Riza on the first day of school if she liked Roy, but she just blushed."

"So, I would blush if anyone asked me if I liked anyone." Ella said a little confused.

"Yes," Winry admitted "But Riza doesn't blush. That was probably the first time that I've ever seen the girl blush and I've known her all of high school."

"oh" Ella simply said. _Now I have another couple that I need to help set up. At least her and Al could get help from Winry. _"Why can't people ever just see that they like someone?" Ella said just wondering aloud.

"I wish they would too Ella." Winry said not realizing that Ella wasn't just talking about Riza and Roy.

* * *

So this chapter isn't at all how I planed it in my head, but I like where it went so… oh well. Hope you all liked the chapter. I personally was pleased with it, even though it kind of ran away as I wrote it.

Originally this chapter had been after the next chapter but I went back and changed some stuff and placed it before. Also be happy there is some Winry Ed fluff coming up.

Also, sorry if there are any mistakes, I had an eyedoctor appointment today and they are makeing me wear glasses for the next week because my eyes are messed up or something. The problem is that my glasses aren't quite strong enough for how weak my eyes are, and thus I am squinting all of the time. Not fun. So sorry if there are any weird typos, hopefully my sis caught them all.

Hope that you all review, read, and write forever. Well for almost forever.

FFG- Jo


	21. Chapter 21 Rain

Nick's Simile: (We do not own this.) Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 21

* * *

**

Alchemy practice was over and Winry, Ed, Al, and Ella were all heading back to their apartments. Of course Ella was going to Ed and Al's as her mother wasn't going to pick her up anytime soon.

Really walking home wasn't that bad, it was cloudy outside and just starting to cool off as if became fall, so everyone was pretty comfortable. That is until Ed felt something wet on his nose. It turns out that those weren't just normal clouds.

The four began to run, and Ella almost tripped a couple of times, being the clumsy girl that she is. Thankfully the rain started slowly and they made it back to Ed and Al's apartment before it started to really pour.

"Get inside Winry!" Ed shouted over the rain after Al and Ella had entered the apartment.

"But my apartment is that…" Winry started to protest before Ed grabbed her arm and pulled her inside before she could get too wet.

"We have an umbrella somewhere around here that you can use to get home with." Ed said explaining why he had pulled her inside the apartment.

"Oh, thanks." Winry said, happy to be out of the rain.

"Now to find that umbrella." Ed said kneeling into the messy coat closet that Ella and Al had already shed their jackets into. Ed hadn't bothered taking off his jacket thinking of finding an umbrella for Winry first.

Ella and Al had already proceeded into the kitchen table and were talking, oblivious to Ed and Winry. Both looked a little flushed but were smiling at one another as they talked about who knows what.

Winry felt bad for them. She was positive that the two liked each other, but both were probably too embarrassed to do anything while at school in the presence of so many friends, she was sure that they hadn't had a free moment to just themselves. "Here it is" Ed exclaimed finding the small black umbrella that he and Al owned from back when they were younger.

"Hey Ed, why don't you walk me home?" Winry suggested wanting to give Al and Ella a little time alone.

Ed looked confusingly at her and then he heard Ella and Al laughing, and he understood right away. He looked at Winry who had her eyebrows raised and was motioning for him to follow her out the door.

"Hey Al, I'm going to walk Winry home with the umbrella. Bye!" Ed shouted as him and Winry walked out of the apartment and huddled under the umbrella together with Ed holding the umbrella between the two of them.

Al and Ella looked at one another and darted to the window curious to see if anything might happen between the two. Unfortunately, nothing did as they walked away into the rain disappearing as they rounded the corner.

Ella however was inspired seeing them together and started to go get her bag for her a pencil and her sketchbook.

"_Just don't hold back telling her that you like her, like Ed and Winry are." _Roy's voice echoed in Al's head. Al realized the chance he had with Ed and Winry leaving him and Ella alone. _It's now or never._

Al took a deep breath and took a dive. "Ella, can I talk to you?" he asked completely serious and very worried already about how this might turn out.

Ella stopped dead in her tracks, Al sounded worried. She could sketch later. "What is it Al? Is everything okay?" she asked turning back around to face the boy.

"Not exactly." Al started and then seeing Ella's worried face, he continued trying to explain. "Ella from the moment that I met you… I could trust you…You were really nice… I was comfortable…" Al was having a really hard time expressing what he wanted to and Ella was blushing hard with all of the complements that he was giving her.

"Al what exactly are you trying to say?" Ella asked hoping that he was trying to do what she wanted him to do.

Al took a deep breath and finally spit it out. "I like you Ella."

The girl's heart stopped. "You mean like like?" she asked still a little unsure.

Al nodded and looked at Ella to see her smiling at him slightly flushed. "Me too." She squeaked out.

For a moment neither of the two said or did anything, they just looked at each other until Al couldn't wait any longer. "Wouldyougooutwithme?" he asked quickly.

Ella giggled a little at the rushed question before answering. "Yes."

Al looked at the girl wide eyed and unsure, "Really?"

"Really" Ella smiled at the boy as what she said dawned upon him. Then he rushed at her and scooped her up into his arms giving her the biggest hug ever while spinning her around with him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He said over and over as Ella enjoyed being in his arms.

As they finally let go of one another and pulled back slightly to look in one another's eyes, Ella quickly pecked Al on the cheek, causing him to blush even more than he had been. "I don't want to take this to fast, is that okay Al?"

"Sure, I'm just glad that you said yes" Al admitted. Ella laughed at Al. "What?"

"You're just too cute when you're worried." Ella said smiling at her new boyfriend. Then to cover up a blush that was rising to her face, she quickly ran to her book bag and whipped out a pencil her sketchbook to a blank page. She then sat where she was and began to draw, knowing that maybe for a moment she could stop blushing.

Al walked over to Ella and sat down beside her and looked over her shoulder as she drew. Ella didn't even notice him there until she felt his hot breath on her neck. She looked at Al and blushed when she noticed that their faces were mere centimeters away from each other.

Al leaned forward but instead of kissing her on the lips, he simply pecked her on the cheek. "I'm not going to take this too fast, okay?" Al said a little worried about Ella's reaction to the kiss. Sure she had peaked him, but he wasn't too sure if him doing the same to her was okay.

Ella smiled warmly at him, letting him know that it was fine. Then she climbed into Al's lap so that he could see what she was drawing a little better. He was surprised at her actions, but by no means would he complain. Her sitting in his lap was just too… right. "So what are you drawing?" He asked not quite sure as she had just started the picture.

"You'll see when I finish it." Ella said closing her sketchbook.

"Why are you stopping?" Al asked scrunching his eyebrows.

"I'm sure that there is something that you would rather do than just watch me draw." Ella said realizing that she shouldn't be drawing when she could hang out with Al.

Al shook his head. "No, I like watching you draw, just like you like to watch me do alchemy."

"Are you sure?" Ella said not wanting Al to feel bored.

Al wrapped his arms around Ella and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'll watch you draw."

Ella was a little embarrassed by his actions as she blushed but she had to admit to herself that she liked the feeling of being in Al's arms. She relaxed in his embrace and opened her sketchbook and began drawing her picture.

Ed and Winry

Winry felt her shoulder getting wet. _Stupid umbrella. It's just not wide enough for both me and Ed._ She huddled closer to Ed brushing up against him.

He looked at her, feeling her touch him slightly. He gave her a confused look.

"My shoulder was getting wet." She tried to explain.

Ed nodded understanding what Winry was saying. "Maybe you should hold the umbrella then, so you won't get wet." Ed suggested as he handed it to Winry.

She took it, but moments later that wasn't working either, because Winry was slightly shorter than Ed and therefore she held the umbrella down a little lower. This caused Ed to hit his head on the umbrella as they walked.

After the third time that Ed had hit his head on the umbrella Winry finally decided to say something, "This isn't working Ed. You keep getting hit on the head by the umbrella. You should take it back." She said as she shoved it gently back into Ed's hands.

"Maybe you should hold the umbrella with me, that way you can make sure that it covers you as well." Ed recommended.

Winry nodded and raised her hands to hold the umbrella as well. As she grabbed the handle, Winry accidentally grabbed one of Ed's hands that were also on the umbrella. She blushed but didn't let go of Ed's, as her hand covered his.

Ed didn't even look at her. At the touch of her hand on his, he had suddenly felt nervous but hadn't said a word. They proceeded to Winry's apartment in silence.

Once there Ed tried to say goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow Winry" Ed said as he started to walk away from the apartment.

Winry didn't want him to go though. "Maybe you should hangout here for a while Ed." She said hoping that he would. "I mean so Al and Ella can have some alone time together."

Truthfully Ed didn't really want to leave Winry yet. He had just started to go home because he didn't have an excuse to stay. "Alright Winry" he said as he closed the small umbrella and entered the apartment that Winry lived in with Aunt Pinako and her parents when they were in town.

No one was there at the moment though because her parents were still out of town on that business trip and Aunt Pinako was working at the automail shop she owned, and Den went to work with her on most days.

Winry shed her jacket and Ed followed her actions and hung his own jacket in the closet with hers. When he had finished he turned around to see that Winry wasn't in the front room anymore. He walked into the kitchen and found her heating up some water in some mugs.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked confused as he watched Winry pull out two little baggies from the cupboard.

She smiled at him as the microwave beeped signaling that it was done. "I'm making hot chocolate silly." Winry said as she pulled the two mugs out of the microwave and mixed the packets of chocolate powder into them and then handed one to Ed.

Ed took it graciously and sipped carefully from it trying not to burn his tongue. He watched as Winry closed her eyes and sipped cautiously from her own mug. _'I'll always be there for you' _Ed heard her voice echo in his head. _It's nice to have someone always there for you._

The rest of the afternoon flew by as Winry and Ed talked and worked a little on their homework before Ed returned to his house after the rain had stopped. Ella finished her drawing and Al was amazed at its picture like quality. When Ella's mother came to pick her up, Al hugged her goodbye as well as giving her another peck on the cheek. Then he went to work at the pet shop for the rest of the night. Overall it was a very satisfying day.

The next morning

"Winry! Winry!" Ella shouted running up to her friend as they headed to the student council room before school. Al also was also running up beside the girl.

Winry smiled as Ella stumbled a little but didn't stop rushing toward Winry. "What is it Ella?" Winry asked trying not to laugh at the girl.

"I drew something for you last night." Ella said pulling a folded paper out of her pocket. She then handed Winry the picture she had drawn the night before with Al. As soon as the picture was out of Ella's hands, she grabbed Al's hand and stood there waiting for Winry to unfold her drawing.

Winry was a bit distracted though as she noticed the physical contact between Ella and Al, and just knew that something had happened between the two. "Are you official now?" Winry asked barely being able to contain her excitement.

Both of them blushed and looked slyly at one another before nodding their heads ever so slightly.

"Eeeeeeee!" Winry couldn't help but squeal slightly for Ella. She immediately gave the new couple a huge hug and congratulated them. "Do you know how happy everyone is going to be hearing about this? Oh we've all been waiting for this to happen." Winry said very animated.

Ella knew that Winry was excited for her and Al, but she really just wanted to see Winry's reaction to the picture she drew, so she decided to mention it once again. "Hey Winry could you look at the picture I drew for you." She said trying to get Winry back on task.

Winry smiled at Ella and said "Fine I'll look at your picture." She unfolded it slowly for dramatic effect and gasped at what she saw. It was a very realistic picture of her and Ed walking away under an umbrella in the rain. Both of them had their faces looking slightly toward each other and Winry could see a slight blush on both of their faces as well. It was simply breathtaking.

"I thought that since you helped inspire the drawing, that I should give it to you." Ella said pleased with Winry's reaction.

"Is it really for me?" Winry asked incredulously looking up at Ella.

"Yeah." Ella said starting to walk again toward the Student Council room with Al following close behind.

Winry looked down at the drawing once again. She smiled happily and cautiously folded it up again and stuck it in her pocket. She knew that she would always treasure it and keep it close.

* * *

Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. This is probably one of my favorite chapters. I mean I had a ton of fluff and stuff in it. Hope that you all enjoyed it. This will be the last part of the Ella arc. Next chapter will have a time skip just warning you.

Please review.

FFG- Jo


	22. Chapter 22 Timeskip

Nick's Simile: (We do not own this) He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

So this is the beginning of Arc 4- the Winter Arc. Sorry for the major time skip but it was needed.

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry… (I could do this all day but then we would never get anywhere so…) I'm so sorry you guys for having to wait for the chapters. Life for me and my sis just got really busy and we aren't having anytime that we can edit the chapters together. (She goes though and finds all my mistakes and then together we go back and fix all the problems because I don't just want her fixing stuff without my consent, yeah I like her help but I still want it to be my work. Maybe that's a little selfish of me. Oh well)

**Chapter 22

* * *

**

So that became the routine over the next few months. Al and Ed would have alchemy team practice after school, although they wouldn't have any alchemy team competitions until after the winter break, Izumi was still having them practice every day. Winry and Ella would watch.

Then the four would walk to Ed and Al's home where Al and Ella would stay to hang out while Ed and Winry left so that they could have some alone time.

Al and Ella would mostly just watch movies and talk, sometime just cuddle a little, and on special occasions Ella would draw. While that may sound strange, these were the days that Al appreciated the most. He would have Ella sit in his lap and just draw. He loved watching how a smile would be planted on her face as she did the thing that she loved most.

Nothing much more had developed in Al and Ella's relationship although they were always being teased by the whole student council class for actually having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Only mere kisses on the cheeks were common between the two.

Sadly enough Roy and Riza's relationship hadn't taken a step farther either, although both Al and Ella had watched it carefully hoping for something to happen and trying to think of some good ideas to get the couple together.

Surprisingly Ed and Winry had gotten even closer, if that was even possible. Everyday after school they would go hang out at Winry's apartment until Ella went home or Al had to go to work.

Sometimes the four would hang out together but those days were few and far between. Honestly Winry loved those days, but she liked having Ed to herself most of the time. She knew that she was being selfish but she also knew that the feelings that she was starting to develop for him probably wouldn't ever be returned, so she was going to treasure the time that she got to spend with him alone.

Now slowly the Fall grew colder and everyone was having to dress a little warmer for the coming winter. As much as everyone had been looking forward to the holidays, they had all been a little sad when school let out and they knew that they wouldn't be seeing each other on a regular basis for a couple of weeks.

They all had said good bye on the last day of the first semester of school and headed their separate ways except for Ed, Winry, Al, and Ella who had proceeded to walk home from school like they normally did.

It was snowing just slightly and the sidewalk was a little slushy, as they trudged along with Ed deep in thought but still adding in his opinion to the conversation every once in a while and the other three chatting like they normally did. Winry looked over at Ed who had his hands stuffed in his pockets as to keep them as warm as possible. She then decided to act on a whim.

They had gotten to the place where Ed and Winry would normally separate from Al and Ella, and Winry knew that as the last day of the school semester, Al would want to spend some time alone with Ella, and Ella would want the same. So she looped her arm though Ed's and started pulling him to keep walking rather then head for his own apartment.

"Bye you guys," Winry shouted to Al and Ella as she pulled Ed along beside her. "Ed's just going to walk me home and then he'll come home, okay, bye."

Ed retaliated slightly confused. "Winry, I thought we had already decided that we were all going to hang out together today."

It was true, they had decided to hang out together, but Winry had decided to act on impulse and separate from the couple who she had noticed hadn't objected at all to the group separating. "Oh Ed, didn't you see that those two wanted some time alone?"

"They always seem to want time alone." Ed remarked finally noticing that Winry had her arm though his and was practically hugging it. He didn't say anything though because she looked cold and seemed more comfortable on his arm.

"They're in love Ed." Winry said smiling at the thought of Al and Ella.

Ed on the other hand almost choked on nothing. "LOVE?" he asked Winry a little caught off guard.

Winry rolled her eyes at Ed, and then admitted "Well I don't know if they are actually in love yet, but they probably will get there pretty soon."

Ed thought about it. He should have realized sooner that his little brother was starting to fall in love. He knew that Al loved spending time with Ella more than practically anyone else. _Now I feel like an idiot._ Ed smiled though, "Well I'm happy for him, and I guess that I'm happy for her too. She'll be good for him."

Winry giggled slightly at Ed's statement. "You know Ed they are already a couple."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Ed commented sarcastically.

"Shut it." Winry said laughing at the boy, when suddenly a chill went up her spine noticeably and she hugged Ed's arm harder.

"You okay?" Ed asked slightly worried as he looked at Winry.

She looked up at him and Ed almost forgot to breathe. He had been noticing how Winry looked a lot lately but how she looked at that moment pretty much took his breath away, with her cheeks slightly pink from the cold as snow feel softly in her hair and she smiled at him as her blue eyes shined. "I'm fine, just a chill going up my spine." She said before looking back forward.

Ed continued to stare at her a moment longer, not being able to control his eyes. He was reminded suddenly of that kiss that Winry had given him on the cheek right before doing that automail surgery. _Where did that thought come from?_

For the rest of the walk to Winry's apartment, Ed made sure to keep his thoughts from anything having to do with that subject, but his cheeks were slightly pinker than normal and it wasn't just because of the weather.

When they finally arrived at Winry's apartment, Ed and Winry both went inside and shed their jackets on to the floor, and followed their normal routine. Winry went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate, while Ed searched the TV to see if anything good was on, and if not he would find a movie to pop in.

Ed was flipping though the channels and was about to give up seeing that nothing good was on when suddenly something flashed at the bottom of the screen and Ed read the little banner that was moving slowly across the screen. 'Snowstorm warning, Snowstorm warning, Snowstorm warning, Check out your local weather channel for more information, Snowstorm warning…'

Ed was a little surprised at the suddenness of this storm. He just watched the note at the bottom of the screen repeat itself a few times before he switched the TV to the weather channel. He quickly switched the channel and had to wait a moment for it to begin talking about upcoming storm.

Winry entered the room with two steaming cups of hot chocolate and noticed how Ed had the TV on the weather channel, but she didn't say anything as she sat beside him carefully handing him the hot chocolate. Ed took it without taking his eyes off of the TV and what it was saying.

"This very well could be the storm of the year or maybe the century," the weather guy tried to joke, failing miserably at even being slightly humorous. "It should hit in about an hour or so, and it could last as late as tomorrow morning, and by then our city should be covered in about a foot or so of snow. So bundle up for the night and be ready to stay home and stay warm. Back to you Fran…"

Ed turned off the TV and looked at Winry. They both knew that Ed needed to get home before the storm hit, which meant that he needed to leave as soon as possible. He stood up and refused to look at Winry, instead staring at his full cup of hot chocolate. Even if hanging out just the two of them hadn't been the original plan, he had to admit to himself that he did enjoy spending time with Winry just by himself, so to be cut short like this, Ed wasn't too happy about it.

"So I guess you should get home before the storm hits?" Winry said wishing that it wasn't true that he already had to leave.

"Yeah, I probably should." Ed said setting his still full cup of hot chocolate down on the coffee table in front of the TV, and standing up and heading to the door where he picked up his jacket and put it on.

Winry walked over to Ed just as he was about to open the door to leave. She tapped him on the shoulder, and as he turned around she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She knew that she was being bold today so what the hell. She might not see Edward for a while because of the break.

Ed was once again surprised by Winry's actions for the day, but by no means was he complaining. Surprising Winry he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer as well.

"I'll miss you." Winry whispered lightly to Ed.

Ed smiled yet it was a sad smile, "I'll miss you too." He replied back.

Both of them pulled back a little pink in the cheeks, but because Winry was on a roll with her boldness, she decided to do one last thing. She kissed him lightly on the cheek causing the light blush on Ed's face to darken slightly. "For luck" she said using that excuse for a second time. "Hopefully you can get home before the storm hits." She said trying to explain her actions a little better.

"Yeah…" Ed simply said not sure really what else there was to say. "So I'll see you later Winry."

"Yeah, see you later." Winry replied back as Ed opened the door and walked out into the cold that she could tell was much worse due to the air that rushed into the apartment. She closed the door behind Ed as he walked away from her to get home, only turning back once to wave at her.

* * *

So that was a good place to end the chapter. This actually wasn't where I originally wanted to stop the chapter but nothing seems to go exactly the way I plan it.

Hey, here's a shout out to Freyjadour, I thought that you might enjoy that little shut it thing. I was just typing and suddenly that popped in my head and I just had to use it. Hoped that you laughed. He he he.

Review if you have the time and aren't feeling too lazy at the moment.

FFG- Jo


	23. Chapter 23 Unexpected Visitor

Nick's simile: The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 23

* * *

**

Ed rushed into his apartment and slammed the door shut behind him. Getting home hadn't been too fun in the swirling mess of a storm that was picking up outside. Ed shrugged off his jacked that was pretty much soaked from the snow outside and he called out for his brother. "Alphonse!" No response "Hey Al!!!" he shouted a little louder. Once again there was no response.

Ed was just about to call out for is brother and Ella when a little note caught his eye by the telephone. He walked over and picked it up to read it. It said:

'Ed- When me and Ella got home there was a message on the machine from my boss that said that she wanted me to come in early today. Ella decided to tag along, not wanting to stay here by herself. See you later brother. – Al.'

Ed sighed, obviously Al didn't know that there was a storm on its way, or he might not have headed to work. Now Al and Ella were probably going to be stranded all night at the pet store. Ed grimaced. That wasn't something that he would ever want to experience.

He then went over and plopped down on the old couch and closed his eyes as he began to think. That's just how his brain worked, never a break for it. He was constantly thinking about something, even if it wasn't too important.

The topic that his mind wandered to today wasn't a very unusual one as of late. _Winry._ Yeah Ed had to admit to himself that he had been thinking of her a lot more this year than he had in the past. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, they might accuse him of crushing on her or something.

_Well maybe you are... No, that wouldn't be a good idea. Winry is your friend and crushing on a friend would just make things awkward for us. _Ed sighed. He couldn't fall for Winry. He wouldn't allow it, but then Ed recalled how she had surprised him so many times that day with her actions. _Especially that kiss. _Ed blushed slightly as he recalled how soft her lips had felt on his cheek.

Ed had to admit that he liked the touch of her lips if nothing else. _I wonder what it would be like to kiss her on the mouth? _Ed's eyes popped open and he almost slapped himself with that thought. No, he couldn't like Winry in that way. _I got to start thinking about something else, anything that could distract me from Winry._

As Ed thought of Winry, he couldn't help but remember how pretty she had looked as they had been walking home. At first he tried to banish the image from his mind, but when it refused to go away, he gave up and just pictured her. Ed couldn't help the smile that plastered itself to his face. He lay back onto the couch and closed his eyes once again as he thought, and it wasn't long before he fell into a light slumber.

If Ed had been awake to look out the small window in the living room area of the home, he would have just seen a blur of white as snow swirled thick in the windows. The wind howled loudly as it blew around the apartment. While some would find it terrifying, Ed slept serenely though it, almost comforted by the howls.

The next morning

**CRASH!!!!!** Ed woke up to the sound of glass shattering on the floor. Very few things could get Ed to wake as fast as he did, but this was certainly one of them. He had slept on the couch on accident all of last night and now he was thankful because it let him get to the kitchen a lot faster.

"WHO'S THERE?!" He yelled running into the room only to find a very surprised Winry looking at the floor where a shattered plate lay.

"Oops?" she said to Ed who was wide eyed and ready to attack the intruder.

"Oh it's just you." Ed said relived that no one really had broken into him and Al's apartment. "Why are you here Winry, and how did you get in?" he asked confused how his friend had gotten into his house.

"See, I woke up this morning and saw all of the snow outside and I knew right away that I wanted to come spend the day with you, Al, and hopefully Ella. So I left Aunt Pinako a note explaining where I was going, and I headed on over figuring that I could just eat with you guys over here. Getting in was easy, I know where you hide your key." Winry said explaining.

"Why are you in my kitchen then, breaking stuff?" Ed asked eyeing the shattered plate on the floor.

Winry blushed in embarrassment. "That was just an accident while I was trying to make breakfast."

At the word breakfast, Ed's stomach grumbled and he realized that he had never had anything to eat the night before and now he was even hungrier than normal. "Hey what did you make?" Ed said while walking carefully though the glass on the floor toward Winry to see what she had made.

"Obviously you didn't hear me correctly." Winry said picking up the skillet from the stove and tilting it to show Ed the burnt contents in it. "I said that I was **trying** to make breakfast."

Ed made a face at the burnt meal wondering what it even was supposed to be.

At that moment the front door swung open and Al and Ella came stumbling through laughing hard at who knows what. They only stopped when they saw Ed and Winry looking at them curiously, surrounded by pieces of glass from the plate that Winry had dropped earlier.

Ella smiled at the two and gently elbowed Al in the side as to signal him to the fact that Ed and Winry maybe had been alone for what might had been the whole night. Now the only question for them was how to bring up the topic discreetly.

Of course Ella's first reaction to seeing the broken plate on the floor was "Oh, let me help you clean up that glass" wanting to be as useful as possible she took a step towards the kitchen.

Only Al's hand stopped her from going any farther. She looked back at him curiously. "Umm… Maybe you shouldn't touch the glass Ella." He said as nicely as possible.

"Why?" Ella said thoroughly confused as to why she shouldn't help.

_Oh, how to say things with tact? _"Well Ella," Al began "you aren't always the most careful person and you might get hurt."

"Oh." Ella said quietly feeling her face heat up in embarrassment. What else was there to say?

"Ella I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything." Al exclaimed at seeing his girlfriend seem so down at his comment. "I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all." He tried to explain and Ella couldn't help but giggle slightly to herself as she heard him try to make her feel better.

She looked up at him and before he could say another word she hugged him around the neck. Al immediately recognized that Ella was forgiving him for what he had said, and he wrapped his arms back around her waist and pulled her even closer.

"So where have you two been all morning?" Winry asked as she went down to her knees to start picking up the small pieces of shattered plate. The two separated as Ella turned back around to face Ed and Winry, but Al wasn't going to let go that easily. He instantly snaked his arms back around her stomach and set his chin on her shoulder. Both of their faces became slightly pink but neither was willing to pull away from the other.

Ed, also slightly afraid that Winry might cut herself on the sharp pieces of glass, bent down and started picking up the pieces as well. _After all, I have an automail arm that can't be cut by glass._ Al meanwhile started to explain.

"You see Winry, when Ella and I had gotten home from school yesterday, there was a message on our machine from Amber saying that she wanted me to come in early." Al said.

Winry looked up from the floor thinking that she might already know what Al was going to say for the rest of the story. "Ella went with you right?" she asked pretty sure already.

"Yep." Ella said smiling at Al as he did the same for her remembering the crazy night they had just had. "And so Al and I spent the night at the pet store."

Winry laughed at the two's fate, while Ed couldn't help but grin slightly to himself. "Ahh!" Winry said suddenly because she had continued picking glass off the floor while not paying attention, and therefore she had pricked herself.

"You okay Winry?" Ed asked suddenly very concerned which didn't go unseen by the other two who couldn't help but glace at each other from the corners of their eyes.

"I'm fine, I just pricked myself. I was more caught off guard than anything else." Winry said trying to brush off the tiny injury. She didn't need to do anything for it really, after all the glass had barely punctured though her skin. A drop of blood was barely oozing out. Winry had to resist the urge to put her finger in her mouth.

"Come on Winry" Ella said taking her by surprise. "Lets go clean up that injury in the bathroom." Ella was pretty sure that if something had happened between Winry and Ed, then Winry was more likely to tell her without Ed in the same room. Call it woman's intuition.

Winry couldn't help but protest once again. "No really, I'm fine. No need to worry."

Ella was surprised that Winry had refused, but then again she realized that she probably shouldn't be too shocked by it. After all, Winry could be very stubborn at times. Al shook his head at Winry, knowing better than to be stunned by the girl but also understanding that she really should go clean her finger. It may have been just a tiny injury but you never know when something like that could get infected.

"Go Winry. I can finish cleaning up by myself." Ed said wanting to see Winry as far away from the glass as possible.

Winry bit her lip debating about arguing about going or not. When Ed looked up at her an flashed her one of his grins, she felt her cheeks start to burn and just wanting to get out of the room she stood up and headed toward the bathroom. _Why does he affect me so much?_

Winry didn't even notice that Ella had followed her to the bathroom until she had stepped inside of the room, and heard someone going though the cabinets behind her. "What the… Oh it's just you Ella." Winry said seeing her friend rummaging through the cabinets looking for something.

"You would think that two boys living alone would have some sort of disinfectant or something." Ella said as she reached farther back into the cabinet. "Ahh, here some is!" Ella exclaimed as her hand found a small brown bottle of peroxide and pulled it out quickly.

Too bad Ella wasn't too coordinated. When she pulled out the bottle of disinfectant, she also managed to knock out about five other bottles, causing a ruckus.

Ella sighed at the mess she had made. Anyone could have done what she had just done. It was just more likely to happen to Ella.

"You guys okay back there!" the girls heard Al yell from the living room.

"We're fine!" Winry yelled back trying not to laugh at Ella's clumsiness but failing miserably at it. At least Ella was now also smiling at her inelegance.

Ella set the bottle of disinfectant on the countertop while she bent down to start picking up the other bottles and tried to put them back in their original places.

Winry on the other hand first washed her hand off in the sink and then tried to pour the disinfectant on her finger. However once again her tries weren't too successful because she had pricked her pointer finger on her right hand and pouring from her left hand wasn't too easy. She seemed to be getting more of the liquid in the sink then anywhere else.

Winry heard Ella sigh and was about to ask Ella what was wrong but before she could Ella had taken the disinfectant out of Winry's hand and had grabbed Winry's wrist lightly to hold it steady as she poured the liquid onto Winry's finger.

Ella began to speak as she screwed the lid back on the bottle and searched the cabinet once again this time for a band-aid. "So what did you and Ed do last night?" she asked trying not so sound prying.

"What do you mean Ella?" Winry asked trying to figure out what Ella was talking about.

"Well when me and Al came back you were already here, so what happened?" Ella asked hoping for something.

"Oh, that. I just came over to maybe have breakfast with you guys and hang out in the snow today." Winry said dashing all of Ella's hopes that something might have happened.

"So nothing happened between you and Ed?" Ella asked finally going for the direct approach as she found a band-aid and put it on Winry's finger. Putting band-aids on with only one hand is hard.

Winry looked at Ella for a moment before a grin plastered itself on her face. "Ella are you snooping?"

"N-no" she said failing terribly at seeming at all innocent as her face flushed from embarrassment of getting caught.

Winry smiled at the girl. It was just too obvious that she was lying. "Whatever, let's get back to the boys."

As they exited the bathroom they heard the phone ring and saw Ed make a mad dash to pick it up from the couch that him and Al were sitting on. "Hello" he said trying not to sound out of breath.

The others just watched as Ed's face became very red and then he yelled back into the phone "WHO YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT THEY ARE SMALLER THAN A BEAN!"

There was only two people that could have been on the phone, and after Ed had calmed slightly and said "Yeah she's here" and handed the phone to Winry, it was pretty obvious who it was.

"Say hi to Aunt Pinako for me Winry," Al said as Winry put the phone up to her ear.

Winry nodded her head at Al as she spoke into the phone. "Hey what's up?"

Talking was heard from the other side of the line, but no one could tell what Aunt Pinako was saying, except Winry of course.

Winry frowned as the listened to her guardian talk to her. "Okay, I'll be there soon." And then she hung up the phone. Before anyone could even ask her what Pinako had said Winry started to explain while she went over to the door and started putting her coat on, "Grandma said that I needed to come home right away, but she wouldn't tell me why over the phone. Sorry but it doesn't seem like I will get to hang out in the snow with you guys today."

"That's okay Winry, we can all hang out another day during the break." Ella said trying to stay positive.

"There will be other days with snow" Al said smiling at Winry and then at his girlfriend who had taken a seat next to him and had set her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah I guess." Winry said opening the door to head home.

"Hey, Winry" Ed said as he walked over to her and held the door open as she walked outside. "Just be careful going home okay?"

"I can take care of myself Ed." She said happy that he seemed to be slightly worried about her. _Well at least I know that he cares about me even if it is just as a friend._

"Promise" Ed said looking straight into her bright blue eyes almost getting lost in them.

"Promise" and with that Winry walked away leaving Ed watching her this time.

* * *

Sorry about the kinda late update. Life is hectic, what can I say. I know this chapter didn't have as much fluff as you guys probably wanted, but really it was more to show how Ed is starting to have stronger feelings for Winry, but he doesn't think that's good. We all disagree though. He he he. (yeah I know that wasn't really that funny.)

It also sets up my next stuff, so keep writing. I got more reviews for the last chapter than any other chapter. I love all of you guys that are reviewing. Makes me so happy.

Umm… I might not reply to all the reviews this time, life is way to busy, so just letting you guys know. So thank you now and also I'm not sure when I'm going to update again. It probably won't be until next Tuesday or something because I have a dance competition/ convention this next weekend in Tulsa, and I just found out that I am going to compete a dance. Too bad we have only practiced once without any teachers so it isn't looking too good at this point. Way too much drama right now at my dance studio. Oh well.

FFG- Jo


	24. Chapter 24 Working

Nick's Simile: The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA

I'm so sorry for the late update, in case you were wondering the competition I attended this last weekend, my tap group (there was only four of us in this dance number) got:

1st in its division (Senior group tap)

Best showmanship (kind of like the judge's favorite dance in the senior division even if it didn't have the highest score) 

2nd overall in Senior numbers. So we did really well. Thank you if you wished me luck!

Just warning you guys that I have a dance competition this next weekend after Easter at which I'm competing 7 dances so this week is going to be bad with practices.

**Chapter 24 **

Ed groaned as he shoveled what seemed like his millionth sidewalk that day. "I just had to get a job, and I just had to ask Izumi for one, and she just had to make me shovel sidewalks without alchemy." _Mrs. Izumi says that not using alchemy is good to practice but I think that she just wants to torture me. _

A week had passed since they had gotten out from school and Ed sadly hadn't seen Winry since. Not that he had really had the time to between alchemy practices and working for Izumi as well. At least he was getting paid enough to cover all the bills for now and even save a little if the bills got worse later.

_Maybe I should go by Winry's later to see how she's doing and stuff. After all a few of the sidewalks I'm supposed to shovel seem to be in that area._ And with that thought, Ed decided that he was going to go by and say hey to Winry. _Hey I need a break anyway._

So Ed finished shoveling his current sidewalk and started to head to Winry's house, but once he was there he didn't seem to have a real reason for actually coming to see Winry. For a moment he just stood there not sure if he should knock or go away. _What if Winry wasn't even home? What then?_

Ed had reached out his hand but had stopped mid knock when these thoughts had flowed into his mind. Fortunately he didn't have to make a decision because at that precise moment the door swung wide open to reveal a very amused Aunt Pinako looking at him.

"Hey pipsqueak" she said casually not caring what Ed's reaction would be. Although it was quite amusing.

"WHO YOU CALLING SHORT YOU TINY OLD HAG!" Ed yelled not being able to control his reflexes to such a blatant insult.

"Winry's upstairs working on some automail, it's a wonder that she didn't hear you already." Aunt Pinako said sounding exactly the way she always did.

Ed was still fuming as he began to march upstairs to see Winry. Already he had completely forgotten about that he didn't really have a reason for being there.

Aunt Pinako sighed "If an unexpected visit from Ed doesn't cheer her up a little, then I don't know what will."

Ed meanwhile had made it to Winry's room with his temper finally faded and he knocked on her door with no problem. He didn't even think about what he would say until after he had knocked. His only hope was that Winry wouldn't care too much for a reason why he was there.

Winry opened the door and Ed noticed right away that something was up. She wasn't smiling and instead only looked confused.

"Ed, what are you doing here?" She asked now looking tired as well.

_So much for not caring why I'm here. _Ed decided to stick with the truth. "Well, I was just thinking that I hadn't seen you lately and I missed you so I decided to drop by." He said and then jumped at his own words and his face heated up. _I was going to say "I was out working and I happened to be in the area." Why didn't I just say that?_

Winry smiled slightly at Ed but it wasn't her normal smile. Her eyes just seemed sad to him.

"What's up Winry?" he asked concerned. 

"Nothing." Winry said brightening up and smiling cheerfully, trying to cover up her true emotions.

Ed saw right though her mask and knew something was bugging her but decided not to bother her about what ever it was. He would just ignore whatever it was for now. _Maybe she's just tired or something. _But he knew that he was just lying to himself.

For a moment neither of them spoke leaving an awkward silence hanging between them. Ed shifted uncomfortably wanting to break the deafening quiet but not sure what to say.

"So what have you been up to?" Ed said trying to get some sort of conversation going. Anything was better than the silence.

This was the first time since he had arrived, that Ed saw Winry act normal, well normal for her. "I've been designing this new automail," Winry said with a slight gleam in her eyes. "I've made it lighter and easier to move, although I'm still working on making it tougher, and…" Winry continued to talk about automail religiously. 

Ed was very confused with all of the technical terms that she was spurting out. However he was happy to see Winry feeling a little better. As Winry walked over to the workbench she had put in her room, because of the many times that she had worked nonstop on her automail, Ed followed her chuckling slightly to himself at how happy Winry could get over a few screws and bolts. He sat on her bed as Winry proceeded to tell him all about this new model that she was working on which included showing him every part of the new arm, and Ed actually found himself having a partial clue as to what Winry was saying. _Maybe that automail class is paying off._

"Hey Winry, have you been doing anything but working on automail over the break?" Ed asked joking slightly but curious all the same.

Winry thought for a moment recalling everything she had done so far over the break. "Nope, not really, I mean I've been helping Grandma a lot in the shop."

"Loser machine junkie," Ed said shaking his head at Winry.

"Alchemy freak," Winry said whacking Ed on the head with her wrench.

"Hey!" Ed exclaimed "I've been shoveling tons of sidewalks this break for Izumi without using Alchemy."

"Probably because Izumi isn't letting you use Alchemy." Winry retorted back.

_Damn, Winry knows me too well._

"Well, am I right?" Winry asked smugly.

Ed reluctantly nodded his head.

"Just as I thought" Winry smiled to herself haughtily.

Ed cringed. _It's time for a change of subject. I've got to change it to a topic that Winry will be so happy about that she'll forget about making fun of me. But what could I use… automail? No, that topic is always too close to alchemy and yeah… Oh I've got it._

_New Years. Practically Winry's favorite time of the year because it is pretty much the only time Winry's parents came home. Winry always got so excited about the holiday because her and her parents always went out to eat at a different restaurant each year. Aunt Pinako sometimes went with them as well, but for the last few years she had gone to some automail convention in Central that was actually held on New Years day. Winry hadn't seemed to mind too much though. I think that she was just happy to spend some time with her parents._

"So" Ed asked slyly, "What are you planning on doing this New Years?"

Winry's smile slowly faded and she looked back over at her automail that she had been working on and therefore away from Ed. "Nothing." She said monotone.

Ed just sat there on Winry's bed realizing what he had just done. _So this is what Winry has been upset about and I just had to go and put salt in the wound. _

Winry took Ed's silence as a cue to continue. "They can't make it in town this year because of their really busy work schedule with helping so many people." Winry's voice didn't crack or even waver when talking about how her parents weren't coming home, but all the same Ed could tell that she was really upset about it.

"Look, I'm really sorry about your parents not coming and everything." Ed said meaning every word that he said. 

"Don't worry about it Ed." Winry said trying to smile at him but failing miserably at it when her eyes began to get a little watery. "I mean I shouldn't let something like this get me down. It's not that big of a deal."

But Ed knew that she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him.

"Hey Ed, didn't you say something about a few more sidewalks that you had to shovel?" Winry asked.

Ed knew that he had said no such thing but took it as a hint that Winry just needed to be alone for a while. "I'll talk to you later Winry, okay?" Ed said as he began to walk out of the room only to look back at Winry for her response.

Winry gave him a half smile, "Yeah, talk to you later." 

And with that Ed shut the door and headed out into the cold to shovel more sidewalks and think about how he might be able to cheer Winry up.

* * *

Hope that you all enjoyed it. Sorry for such a late update. I thought that being on spring break would give me extra time to write and stuff and it has, the problem is my sis is very busy, and thus I have to wait on her to edit my chapters. That's okay though, I've written a lot and I'm hoping to get her to edit a lot of it tomorrow or maybe the next day.

There will not be any more holidays besides New Years in this fic. Yes, I feel a little weird writing about New Years this late in the year but just bear with me. Also don't try to ask for more holidays or anything because I swear that it isn't going to happen. 

And last but not least Happy Easter to all of my lovely reviewers and readers. Even if you don't believe in the holiday or anything, still have a Happy Easter because it's the end of lent for some of us. (Wooh! I gave up chocolate so I'm excited for Easter)

Reviews are always appreciated. 

FFG- Jo


	25. Chapter 25 Idea

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

Umm… some of you though that Winry's parents were dead but I said earlier on that they weren't although I'm not sure which chapter I said that in. Sorry for any confusion.

**Chapter 25**

Ed stumbled into the apartment slightly worn out form working and practicing alchemy all day, but that was not the reason that Ed wasn't exactly in the happiest of moods. He started to storm upstairs to the bathroom to take a shower.

Al walked in slowly behind Ed, more or less confused at Ed's particularly annoyed mood. "Brother, what's the matter?" Al asked patiently, "Ever since before practice something has been bugging you. What happened?"

Ed paused at the top of the stairs, turned around to look at his brother, and then took a seat on the top step to start explaining.

"I went to see Winry today," Ed simply said.

Al was pleasantly surprised at what Ed had just said. _I never thought Ed would go see Winry by his own choice, but for him to not be acting normally, something must have happened. _"And?" Al asked as he curiosity aroused more and more by each passing second.

"Her parents aren't coming in town for New Years." Ed said looking down at his feet.

"But they always come in town." Al said eyes widening.

"Yeah, and now Winry's all sad." Ed said still refusing to look at Al.

For a moment Al had conflicting emotions. On one hand, he was sad for Winry, he knew how much this holiday meant to her. On the other hand though, he was excited that Ed was worrying so much about Winry. Now he just needed a plan to help the two get together and a way to cheer up Winry.

"So what are you going to do?" Al asked hoping that Ed didn't have any plans yet because then he might not get to plan.

"No idea" Al had to trouble not smiling. "I mean" Ed continued, "when I brought up New Years earlier today she pretty much kicked me out of their house. She just wanted to be alone, and I think that may be what she wants on New Years."

Inspiration suddenly hit Al. "No brother she probably shouldn't be alone on New Years."

Ed stayed silent but now looked up at his little brother waiting to hear the rest of what he was going to say.

"She needs to be distracted on New Years so that she won't keep thinking about her parents and just be sad. She needs someone to take her out and make her have so much fun that she won't even think of her parents. Hey you don't have any New Years plans right?" Al said innocently.

"Yeah." Ed said already pretty sure what Al was going to say next.

"Well, you should take Winry out." Al said finally completing his plan. _Like killing two birds with just one stone, not that I would ever kill a bird okay so fixing two problems with just one solution. This way Winry will be happy on New Years and it will give a night of just the two of them together._

"No way" Ed said.

_Okay maybe this is going to be harder than I thought._ "Why not brother?" Al asked sadly.

"Because-" Ed started before he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hold that thought brother." Al said as he quickly went to the door to answer it.

Much to his surprise and pleasure on the other side of the door was Ella and she seemed to holding something.

"Hey Al." she said smiling. "My Mom made too much chicken casserole stuff and so when she had to go to the store she thought it would be nice to give you guys some of it."

Al smiled to himself. As soon as Ella and him had started dating, Mrs. Mathews had taken it upon herself to take better care of Ed and him. She already looked at them both pretty much as sons.

When she had heard that they were always cooking their own meals, she had "accidentally" cooked too large of meals quite a few times, and had sent some of the extra to the boys. Most of the time, she delivered the food with Ella.

The first time that she had, Al was pretty sure that she just wanted to see where her daughter seemingly hung out all day after school, but then when she kept coming, Al figured that she just wanted to make sure the place stayed clean, because the one time that she had come with food and the sink had been full of dirty dishes, she took it upon herself to clean them all. Al had felt so embarrassed at the time, but now he and Ella just laughed about it.

Ella's Mom was… just such a Mom.

"Hey where's your Mom?" Al asked his girlfriend as he took a step back from the door so that Ella might come in.

"She ran to the store to pick up some groceries, so I'll only be here for a second while waiting on her." Ella said pleasantly while walking in the door. "Where can I put this down Al?" she asked referring to the food in her hands.

"Umm, just set it on the table, me and Ed haven't eaten anything tonight yet so we can have some of it for dinner." Al said as him and Ella headed for the kitchen like area of the apartment.

"One sec Ella, I have to go check on my brother and…" Al trailed off when he heard water running upstairs. Ed had apparently decided that now was the time to take his shower, actually that worked out well in Al's plans to get Ella's help.

He turned back around to Ella who was just standing there smiling at him making his stomach do a little flip. Even now that they were together, she still made his stomach do little flips as he still did to her. He knew because she had told him so.

"Hey" Ella said softly, blushing slightly.

"Hey" Al said back smiling at the girl in front of him and how much he loved having her near.

Ella bit her lip slightly almost as if she wanted to ask something but at the same time wasn't sure.

Al chuckled slightly at his girlfriend's behavior knowing exactly what she wanted. "Come here" he said as he opened his arms to give her a hug.

Ella squealed and ran and jumped into Al's arms burying herself in him. She just loved the feeling of being in his arms. Then she crinkled her nose and pulled back slightly to tell Al something. "You stink."

Al would have been massively embarrassed if anyone else had said so, but seeing as is was just Ella he knew that she wasn't going to let go no matter the smell. "Sorry, I just came from work and alchemy practice."

"I don't mind" Ella said leaning her head back onto Al's chest just enjoying the moment between them.

"Actually I have some big news to tell you." Al said excited about his news about Ed and Winry.

"What?" Ella said already excited.

Al looked around as if he was checking that no one else was in the room but upon hearing the shower upstairs still running he relaxed and quickly pulled Ella to the living room like area, to sit on the couch beside him.

Ella listened patiently as Al explained about Ed's bad mood, then his confession of going to see Winry today and hearing her bad news, and finally Al's idea of them spending New Years together.

"Oh Al this is just perfect. They just have to spend New Years together." Ella exclaimed.

"But brother told me no and I don't know how to convince him other wise." Al said sighing slightly.

"Convince who what?" Ed said as he rushed down the stairs. Then he looked toward the kitchen hungrily. "I knew I could smell something good." He said upon seeing the food that Ella had brought over.

"Ed, why won't you take Winry out for some fun on New Years?" Ella asked right away jumping to the subject.

Ed sighed before answering Ella. "Because it's not like I'm even going somewhere for New Years so it's not like I have somewhere to even take her, why don't you guys just take her out?"

"But brother" Al said not even sure what he was going to say. Ella meanwhile was thinking very hard of what she could say to fix that problem. An idea struck her and she elbowed Al softly in the side to tell him to follow her lead.

"But Ed, me and Al are going to my Mom's New Years party that's going to be a bunch of boring adults. Winry wouldn't have any fun there." Ella said hoping that Al wouldn't mind too much coming to her Mom's party.

Al was surprised but didn't miss a beat in trying to convince Ed to take Winry out for some fun. He actually was flattered that Ella wanted him to come to her Mom's party. "Hey isn't there that party that Mustang mentioned. Didn't he say that it would be a blast or something, why don't you take Winry to that?" Al mentioned remembering something that Mustang had mentioned multiple times in student council class.

Ed didn't say a word for a moment just thinking about everything Al and Ella were saying. _Maybe taking her out would be a good idea. I mean at least it would get her mind off of what she normally does on New Years._ "Okay, I'll take her out for some fun." Ed resigned.

Both Al and Ella wanted to jump up and down in joy but refrained from doing so until Ed had turned away from them and even then they were careful as to not let Ed see.

"Now we just have to convince Winry" Al told Ella still smiling at how well their plans were falling into place.

* * *

Another chapter completed, this actually was a lot longer than I thought that it would be. Awesome! So thanks for reading I hope that ya'll enjoyed. (I can totally say ya'll, I'm Texan okay)

By the way sorry for the **WAY** late update. I had my dance competition this weekend, (We did well if you were wondering.) and all of last week I was at my studio like from 3:30 till 9:15 every night. The dance schedule was crazy. I loved it but I hated it at the same time, make sense? Probably not. Oh well, anyways thank you if you wished me luck.

Reviews are always enjoyed.

FFG- Jo


	26. Chapter 26 Crazy Party

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

Sorry for the short chapter but it didn't work with me combining it to another so I promise to get the next chapter up really soon. Enjoy.

**Chapter 26**

_Why on earth did I agree to do this? _It was New Years Eve and Winry definitely didn't want to go out and party. She just wanted to stay home and work on her automail, maybe even go to bed early, but she had already agreed to go out with Edward for the night.

Actually, she wouldn't have felt too bad telling Ed that she wanted to stay home but after he had convinced her to go to this party that Mustang had been talking about Ella had come by and talked forever about how happy she was that Winry wouldn't be staying home for the holiday. Somehow she just didn't have the heart to tell Ella that she was planning on telling Ed no. Little did she know, that Ella actually had planned to guilt her all along into going.

So now she was waiting by her door for Ed to show up and take her to some random party that she didn't want to go to. Winry sighed and looked at the door just waiting for Ed to come though it.

_It's not like I don't want to spend time with Ed. _She knew her feelings and knew that she was crushing on Ed. _But I just don't want to go out tonight, even if it is with Ed._

There was two knocks on the door and upon opening it, Winry found Ed on the other side smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Ready?" he asked politely.

"Yeah" she answered trying to look happy about it, but once again her happiness didn't reach her eyes and Ed couldn't help but notice.

They both turned and started walking side by side, although Ed was slightly in front leading the way. "Where is this party anyway," Winry asked trying to keep her mind distracted.

"Some old rich neighborhood, I know where it is so we won't get lost," Ed said trying not to worry Winry.

"Okay" she replied back quietly.

For the rest of the walk there, the two stayed pretty quiet, which unfortunately was giving Winry time to think, until she started hearing music that although was soft at first, it steadily got louder and louder interrupting Winry's thoughts.

Ed too could hear the music and it wasn't long before Winry and him realized just where the blaring music was coming from, their destination. A moment passed as Winry and Ed just stood in front of the huge mansion-like house.

It was bigger than most of the houses that either of them had seen, with a huge front yard and probably an even larger backyard. It had way too many cars parked in front of it, and there was tons of trash all over the yard. Not only that, but compared to the rest of the street, it seemed almost like a star in the dark with how many lights were on in and outside the house compared to the rest of the street.

Carefully the two headed inside not quite sure what they might encounter there.

The moment Winry stepped inside she started to get swept away by the mass of people moving around in there. Thankfully Ed was quick enough to grab her wrist before she got too far away from him.

In order not to get pushed around by the many people who seemed to fill up every possible space, Ed pulled Winry near to him and held on tight to her hand with his. Normally Winry might have blushed at them holding hands but she knew better than to think that he was doing it for his own sake, he was doing it to keep her from getting separated from him.

_Well at least he cares enough to keep me from harms way. _Winry sighed. All this pounding music was already giving her a headache and the smell of alcohol in the air wasn't helping much either.

"Come on" Ed said pulling Winry behind him. She didn't know where they were going but at the moment she was just happy to get out of that room.

It wasn't too long before the two of them stumbled outside where it was less crowded but still had tons of people wearing practically nothing walking around. Both blushed at the indecency of everyone around of them. It was a huge backyard but only the area near the house seemed to have anyone in it, probably because that was the pool area.

Gently Ed started pulling Winry towards the back part of the yard, he still held her hand although she probably wouldn't have gotten pulled away from him out here. The back of the yard was a huge garden that no one seemed the least bit interested in, probably because it was much too overdone, but Winry, on the other hand, was thrilled to see that was where Ed and her were heading.

They still were walking in silence but it wasn't uncomfortable whatsoever. The night was only slightly chilly, a warm front had come though a few days ago making it very comfortable outside.

As the two walked farther and farther from the party less and less people were around and the music started to fade slightly as the garden seemed to become more like a park in that the trail they were on became more worn and there was more grass than flowers. The owner of the house obviously didn't feel the need to keep it quite as overdone as the section closer to the house. In Ed's opinion it looked much better.

Just as they thought that they had reached far enough to be away from that mess of a party, giggling and rustling from a nearby bush was heard and one could only guess what was happening there. With only one look at each other, Ed and Winry headed a little farther away from the house and that particular area.

Soon they were far enough away that the lights of the party were faded and like a light glow on everything around them, and the blare of music seemed to have faded into background music.

They finally let go of one another's hands and took a seat under a large tree slightly off of the old and overgrown path. For a moment both just closed their eyes and let their minds wander feeling more relaxed than they had since they had shown up at the party.

"Sorry Winry for the party not being that great." Ed apologized feeling like he should have not invited Winry to come somewhere like that, but in his defense, he hadn't known that it was going to be that crazy.

He had called Mustang just a few days ago to ask for the address of the party he had talked so enthusiastically about at a few of the alchemy team practices. It had taken a lot of teasing but Ed had finally gotten the address from Mustang.

"It's okay Ed," Winry said relaxing back onto the tree some more, "I really didn't feel like partying that much anyway, and this is really nice."

Ed let himself smile a little, "It is."

Once again the two were surrounded by silence and once again it wasn't forced or stressed at all, it was just nice. They listened to the sounds around them, the crickets chirping, the soft breeze whooshing the trees, the deep breaths of each another, and the soft music still coming from the house.

Winry didn't know how long they were sitting there but after a while her throat was starting to become dry and she really wanted something to drink. She started to ask Ed if he would come with her back up to the house while she got a drink, but when she looked over at him, it seemed that he had fallen asleep.

She giggled slightly at him but decided against waking him up. She would rather let him sleep for a while and surprise him with a drink from the house. She knew that he wouldn't want her to go by herself to the party even if it was just for a moment to get refreshments, but she was a big girl and she could take care of herself. She would be back shortly. He wouldn't even know that she was gone until she came back.

Quite stealthily she got up barely rustling the grass and headed off toward the house at a run not wanting to chance Ed waking up while she was gone.

* * *

Another kind of short chapter but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. So how many of you people are saying "Stupid Winry stupid Winry, you should have just woken up Ed." Yeah this arc is a little more cliché but I figured that it wouldn't hurt too much. I'm still trying to keep this a little more original.

You guys really don't have to review this chapter if you don't want to. I mean nothing really happened except me setting up some stuff. I don't care if I get that many reviews on this one. I'll try to update this week sometime, I don't know when.

Keep writing

FFG- Jo


	27. Chapter 27 Intoxicated

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 27**

The wind blew softly though Ed's hair cold enough to partially wake him from his slumber. Ed involuntarily shuttered. "Hey Winry maybe we should go back to the house," Ed said not even bothering to open his eyes.

There was no answer. Ed's eyes fluttered open as he looked over to only find a little imprint in the grass of where Winry had been sitting earlier. "Winry?" he asked looking around a little more frantically as he didn't seem to be able to find her anywhere. Then he finally looked up toward the house knowing where she must have gone.

Ed sighed. It was just like Winry to run off without telling him. Although, it wasn't too big of a deal, she would be back soon. Ed put his hands behind his head and leaned back onto the tree once again getting comfortable until Winry came back.

Only thing was Winry didn't come back. Ed waited for a good half hour before he started to worrying. It wasn't much longer before he decided to head up to the house to check on Winry himself. He started running and only concentrated on getting to Winry, and not on what could have happened to her.

As Ed came back upon the party he found it just as wild as he had seen it before, although there seemed to be a few more people completely drunk or unconscious. He picked his way though the crowded rooms looking for a very blond girl. The first few times he thought that he had spotted her, it turned out that it was just another girl that looked slightly like Winry.

Finally in the kitchen, Ed found her in a position that he wasn't too happy about. She was currently sitting on the kitchen counter with some guy that had to be in college in the least maybe older, and he appeared to be trying to help her down from the counter but his hands seemed to linger a little too long on certain places for Ed's liking. Winry, however, seemed completely oblivious to it and was just laughing and laughing at something unknown to Ed.

"Hey Winry!" he called out trying to grab the blonde's attention.

Both the other guy and Winry looked up at Ed. While Winry's face held total happiness at seeing Ed although her eyes were slightly glazed over, the man had annoyance in his eyes but his face was twisted up into a smirk. _Shoot, this isn't good. _

Then before he knew it, Winry had bounded up to him and practically tackled him in a hug. Thankfully, Ed managed to stay on his feet, only stumbling back slightly.

Winry, on the other hand, would have fallen to the ground if she hadn't latched herself onto Ed and he had steadied her.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" the lingering hands guy said strolling up to Winry and Ed. He came closer to them then Ed would have liked and pushed out his chest while looking down at Ed as if trying to point something out.

_If he even mentions height I'm going to beat the crap out him._

Winry interrupted Ed's thoughts with a giggle that was very unlike her. She still had her arms latched around Ed's neck but now had twisted her body to face the guy. "Of course this is Ed, who else could he be?"

At first Ed thought that Winry was joking because the guy started to laugh really hard, although it wasn't a very good joke. Then Ed looked closer at Winry and saw the confusion etched on her face. Put that together with her slightly glazed eyes and Ed easily figured out what was wrong with her.

"Winry, are you drunk?" he asked very carefully knowing that if he was wrong that he probably would get a bashed in skull from her wrench, even if he hadn't seen it on the girl, that didn't mean she didn't have it.

"Nope," Winry said looking directly over Ed's shoulder. Ed looked back to see what she was looking at and realized that she was trying to look at him. _She's defiantly drunk._ Ed wasn't too happy at all with this new discovery.

"Who the hell did this?" Ed said looking at the guy questioning him.

"What's it to you? You want to thank him or something for making it easier for you with your girlfriend.?" The guy laughed as if he was hilarious, but Ed just fumed at him.

He carefully took Winry's hands and removed them from his neck and put them at her side. He took her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes hoping that she might understand what he was going to tell her. "Winry this won't take very long, and afterwards I'll take you home."

"Okey dokey" Winry replied back cheerfully completely oblivious to what Ed really was saying.

He then turned to the guy with anger filling his eyes. "Tell me who did this to her." Ed stated not questioning any longer as he walked quickly toward the guy. The guy just grinned broadly at Ed.

"What exactly are you going to do about it anyway?" he said being a smartass.

Not a second later he was sprawled out on the floor due to Ed's fist in his face. He lifted his hand up to his lip only to find that it was bleeding from Ed's punch. "You'll pay for that, just because I got your girl drunk doesn't mean that you can touch me. Hey Guys get over here!" he yelled causing two more pretty large guys to come up to help the guy out.

"Not a problem," Ed said sure that he could handle them with his alchemy. Then Ed saw something that completely turned the tables.

Winry ran past him stumbling quite noticeably and falling all the way down once even. "Hey Tom do you have any more of that soda?" she was yelling as she got closer to the guy.

The main guy, evidently named Tom, gave a quick nod of the head and the other two knew what to do immediately. Ed also saw what happened next coming from a mile away but he was too slow to really do anything about it.

In and instant, the two other guys had grabbed Winry and forced her still with her hands behind her back. Ed gritted his teeth knowing that going after Winry might just get her hurt.

Winry, even drunk, didn't like the feel of the guys holding her still and was extremely annoyed with them. "Lettsssss gow" she said with a slight slur in her speech as she tried to pull away from the guy, although in her current state she didn't make much progress.

Ed clenched his fists and really felt like strangling someone but held himself back for Winry's sake. "What do you want?" Ed said still sounding stern.

"Hmmmm, you see this is where it gets interesting," Tom said maliciously. "I have something that you want, but you don't seem to have anything I want, there really doesn't seem to be anything that you can do."

Ed grinded his teeth together steadily becoming more and more mad at this Tom fellow and his friends. Suddenly Ed heard a slight click of something and smiled realizing who had just showed up.

"If you value your lives than you will release the girl" a girl's voice said.

"Believe me she isn't joking and neither am I when I say to release the girl before some one gets seriously injured," a man said.

For there behind the two friends were Mustang and Hawkeye, one with a hand by one of the friend's ears ready to snap and the other with a gun, not on safety anymore, pointed directly to the back of the other friend's head. Mustang was grinning knowing that this was in the bag, but Hawkeye on the other hand was completely serious ready to shoot at any moment.

The boys immediately let go of Winry who fell to the floor still trying to get away from them. There she pushed herself up to her knees, but as she tried to get to her feet she fell back down to her knees too dizzy to stand.

Ed had been watching Tom, only seeing Winry from the corner of his eye but as she stumbled, he couldn't help but direct his full attention on her. Tom noticed Ed's shift of eyes to Winry and took it as his chance to run.

Before he could even get two steps though, a shot rang out barely missing his nose causing him to freeze in his tracks and for everyone else in the room to go silent. Music and shouts from the other rooms in the house could still be heard, as most people had not heard the gun shot or had been too drunk to notice.

"Next time I won't miss." Riza said calmly to Tom as he craned his head slowly toward Riza completely unable to move in fear.

"Ed," Mustang said carefully, gaining the boy's attention from Winry, but only slightly as Ed refused to look away from her as she held her head in her hands and her eyes clinched tight. The pain in her features was dreadfully observable.

"Edward!" Mustang said once again but this time much more sharply. Ed's head whipped around to glare Mustang directly in the eyes as if to say 'What!'

"Take her home." Mustang said not even bothered by Ed's glare. "We'll take care of these guys.

Ed paused considering his options. On one hand, Ed really did want to get Winry out of there as fast as possible; after all it was mostly his fault that she had gotten caught up in this mess in the first place. Then again, Ed couldn't be completely sure that Mustang and Hawkeye would make sure that these guys would truly get what they deserved.

"Ed," Riza said confidently, now causing the boy to turn towards her. She continued seeing his full attention on her. "Take her home, she needs you."

Ed didn't quite know what she meant by that but decided that they could handle it. Probably because while Riza was talking to him, Tom once again tried to run and in a split second Mustang had burned just his feet and Hawkeye had fired again this time just grazing his cheek. _Yeah these two can definitely handle things._

He carefully went down to one knee and grabbed Winry around the waist to help her up. This perhaps hadn't been the best course of action, as the moment his hands came in contact with her sides she began to laugh hysterically.

Ed was flabbergasted. What was he supposed to do to help her when she wouldn't stop moving and giggling from his touch.

Mustang shook his head at Ed when he glanced over from the corner of his eye to see the boy totally confused on what to do. "Pick her up Fullmetal" he teased knowing that would get a reaction out of the boy.

Annoyed, Riza glared at Roy for rushing Ed. She really was starting to get irritated with Roy's constant teasing. Too bad she was busy at the moment and couldn't teach Mustang a lesson again like she had earlier that year.

By now Ed had somehow managed to get Winry to stop giggling uncontrollably and had gotten her to lean on him as he led her out of the party with minimal difficulties.

Once they had left the party, Mustang and Hawkeye turned their complete attention to the three boys in front of them. "So what exactly happened?" Mustang said, sternly as he looked each of them in the eyes giving off a sense of complete seriousness.

* * *

I know that I told you guys that I would have this up Wednesdayish but I was sick Wednesday (all better now just letting you know) and then my sis stole the computer from me the moment we got home yesterday so I couldn't update, sorry but sometimes things are out of my control no biggie. (Man, I like to make excuses, he he he.)

I'd also like to thank once again my little sis, she has been great at editing everything I write. Thank you thank you thank you!

Keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	28. Chapter 28 Not How it's Supposed to Feel

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 28**

* * *

"I'm never going to let you have any alcohol ever again" Ed shouted as he chased after Winry.

They had managed to get out the door without too much difficulty, although Winry had to have most of her weight be supported by Ed. Somehow, she had in a sense 'woken back up' and started pretty much bouncing off the walls with the energy she somehow was containing.

They had been walking along, Ed helping Winry, when she suddenly she had yelled something completely random, and ran off from him. He didn't have a clue how she had so much energy suddenly, much less how she could even support her own weight when she had been needing so much help previously.

She now was currently running down the street blabbing about everything and Ed didn't know how much more information on automail he could take. _This girl doesn't stop talking about automail no matter what._ Apparently when Winry got drunk she liked to talk and run around a lot or just in general move a lot.

_I think that I may have to tackle her to get her to stop. When did Winry get so good at running?_

Then completely random once again Winry completely froze in her tracks. Even though Ed was surprised, he was pleased at the same time because that meant that he was finally

able to catch up with her.

As he came up to her Winry whipped around to face Ed with a sort of deviousness in her eyes. _Something's up._

"Ed, do ya want to knowz my biggest-ssecret of all?" she asked sweetly putting her hands behind her back and smiling sweetly leaning slightly toward Ed just giving off the essence of innocence.

Ed felt his face heat up and tried to look as if he wasn't interested in the least. _The chance of Winry saying the truth in any of this is very unlikely so why should I even be interested in the least._ Ed couldn't help himself being slightly interested though. The chance to hear something like this, even if it was completely false, was almost too good of a chance to pass up. The only thing was that Ed felt slightly guilty for using Winry this way, but in the end, curiosity overwhelmed any morals he was debating on at the time.

"What—" Ed started when he was suddenly cut off by a pair of lips, Winry's lips.

His eyes went wide in shock and he truly froze not having the slightest clue on how to respond to this. All he knew was that Winry was his best friend and this was definitely not how kissing your best friend should feel. Kissing your best friend should be like… well Ed didn't know exactly how it should feel but he suspected it should be like kissing someone in your family and not like this.

There was a spark and Ed wanted more than anything to lean into the kiss for more, but by some chance, he was able to keep still and not react at all. He knew that anything that Winry did at the moment was probably just due to her intoxication.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Ed, although at the same time he secretly wished that it could have lasted longer, Winry finally pulled away from Ed leaving a slight tingling feeling on his lips as they came back into contact with the cold air. She was breathless and whispered "wow," quietly to herself after the kiss.

"You gos nos idea how long I'be wanted to doo that." She said looking Ed in the eye, shocking, and leaving him a little speechless not having a clue how to respond to that sort of statement

He just stood gaping at her as she turned quickly and started to walk down the street again wobbling some but not enough to worry Ed. He followed not really noticing exactly where they were heading, only being able to focus on one thing in his mind. _That's not how it's supposed to feel. Why did it feel that way?_

Only when Winry suddenly stopped again did Ed have to wake up from his thoughts. After all, if he hadn't he would have ran into her.

"Ed?" Winry said smiling while turning around to face him once again, and because he had to have stopped so suddenly in order not to run into her; her face was mere centimeters from Ed's once again.

Ed's head was screaming for him to kiss her, but just like before he refrained from following his, what he assumed, damaged brain. "Yeah," he said a little breathlessly and blushing at the proximity of each other.

Winry also a little breathless said "I thinks I'm going to take a nap," and then she closed her eyes and started to collapse. Ed barely had any time to catch her, which he didn't completely, only being able to slow her fall and keep her head from hitting the ground.

_You just seem to be getting to be more and more trouble tonight. _Ed then set Winry gently on the ground so as to not hurt her. Then he looked at her curiously. How exactly was he supposed to get her home?

Then Winry smiled slightly in her unconscious state making Ed admit to himself how cute she looked. Then Ed frowned at himself. Calling Winry cute, even if it was just in his head, shouldn't be a first reaction to her. Ed was more confused by these new emotions than actually angered by them.

To answer his previous question, only one way to get Winry home came to Ed's mind. _I'll have to carry her, _and with that thought he sighed and leaned over to try and pick her up.

He thought bridal style would have been the best except he was only slightly taller then Winry. Plus she had some muscle, probably from working with automail so much. Anyway, Ed knew her strength from the many times when she had hit him over the head with her wrench.

So bridal style was not going to work, he had tried and failed miserably almost dropping Winry all over again. Good thing she wasn't conscience or he was sure a wrench would have connected to his head by now.

On the back is what it looked like it was going to be. Now the only problem was getting Winry in that position. Most of the time when someone gets on someone's back, they are awake and just kind of hop on. This was going to be a little difficult.

After a few moments of almost 'juggling' with Winry's body, Ed somehow managed to get her arms over his shoulders and her on his back, although if anyone had asked him how, he honestly had no idea. Once again, Ed started walking, trying not to get too distracted by Winry's slight but steady breathe that was tickling his ear.

Progress was slow and grueling but at least now there wasn't the problem of having to chase Winry down a block and make her turn back to the right direction. _Just keep going, you'll make it there… eventually._

Suddnely Winry moved slightly in her sleep and hugged Ed's neck clasping her hands together, not to the point of strangling him, but more like a child hugging a teddy bear in their sleep. Her face buried itself into his neck and snuggled it slightly.

Carrying Winry abruptly became much more enjoyable for Ed although he did vow that when Winry woke up that he was going to tell her to lay off on the constant automail work, although he knew that he wouldn't really. He wouldn't have Winry any other way then the automail junkie that she was.

Finally, Ed somehow managed to get Winry to his house, because it was closer then Winry's, and figured that getting her lying down as soon as possible was the best idea.

Too bad Ed didn't really know how to deal with drunkenness. After all, he despised alcohol. Therefore, he didn't know much on the subject, plus it wasn't like he was technically old enough to drink anyway.

He hoped that Mustang and Hawkeye had somehow found a way to keep people from that party off the street tonight. It looked as if everyone there had drank one too many drinks at the least.

Ed fumbled with unlocking and opening his door when they finally got to it. Keeping a girl balanced on one's back at the same time as doing something else with your hands doesn't always turn out very well. But once again Ed somehow managed, and was able to get Winry inside.

He stumbled though the doorway and set Winry down on the couch as carefully as he could and pried her hands away from each other so as to unclasp her arms from his neck gently.

He turned around to look at Winry, still unconscious, but now frowning slightly, confusing Ed. It wasn't like she was having a nightmare or something so why was she upset at all. He held out his had to feel her forehead to check for a fever but was surprised to see Winry smile at his skin contact. She absentmindedly leaned in toward the source of warmth and almost started to fall off the couch as Ed pulled back in surprise.

He caught her shoulders though and she opened her eyes slightly. "Ed," she said barely audible to him.

"Yeah?" he whispered back still holding her up and now trying to lay her down gently on the couch.

"It's cold," Winry said with her eyes now closed again as she started to drift back into unconsciousness, although Ed was pretty sure that it was just sleep this time.

He smiled slightly now knowing the reason for Winry's discomfort. He let go of her, to go get a blanket, but the moment his hands left her shoulders, her hand tried to catch his wrist even in her half asleep state. "Don't go." She whimpered out as the last bit of warmth from Ed's hands left her body.

Ed was torn for the second time that night, although this time it was between leaving to get Winry a blanket and staying and not letting her be unhappy for even the slightest moment.

It only took one of Ed's hands lightly cupping Winry's cheek and her automatically snuggling into it, for Ed to make up his mind. There was no way on earth that anything was going to keep him from watching over Winry. _I'll just go get a blanket for her once she is completely asleep and can't protest whatsoever. _

Ed never got the chance to get Winry a blanket though, because, before he was completely convinced that she was entirely asleep, he heard a knock on the door and answered it to find Mustang and Hawkeye.

* * *

Yeah not a very good ending but you guys are probably just all still stuck on the fact that I had them actually kiss. You think this is close to then end but you are all sadly mistaken. I've got more up my sleeve that I've been planning for ages. Hope you enjoyed.

Sorry if the slurring isn't completely accurate, I had to pull it completely out of my head and I don't have any experience with that sort of thing.

**Important! **I will not be updating as often for a while, I'm just too busy to do everything I'm supposed to be doing, and therefore I'm not being able to write as much as I would like to. Sorry for the bad news.

FFG- Jo


	29. Chapter 29 What You're Feeling

I'm back! Obviously I'm updating later than usual, but the chapter is longer than usual so I think it kinda sorta evens out. (Oh who am I kidding?) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

**Chapter 29**

"Mustang, Hawkeye!" Ed said surprised at their arrival at his apartment.

"Hello Edward, you wouldn't mind us coming in, would you?" Hawkeye said waiting patiently for his answer.

"I don't mind you, but I'm not so sure about this bastard." Ed stated in jest to Mustang, who just smirked back in response.

"Come on Ed, we have an alchemy contest in the morning and I don't know about you but I actually want to get some sleep tonight." Mustang said still grinning at Ed.

Riza sighed at her friends speech with each other. _Boys can be so immature at times; Mustang for instance has already forgotten why we came in the first place._

Riza's gun clicked as she turned off the safety. She was tired of them arguing and was ready to make sure that Winry was alright. "Could we just get on with this?" she asked a tad frustrated. "Can we check on Winry?" she said finishing her point while looking at Ed.

He stepped out of the doorway and led the two over to the couch that Winry was asleep on. Riza immediately clicked her gun back onto safety, much to Ed and Roy's relief, and checked Winry's forehead with the back of her hand seeing if there was any type of fever.

Feeling nothing above normal, Riza let out a sigh that she hadn't even realized she had been holding. "The guys weren't lying" she said making Roy's shoulders visibly relax.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed asked suddenly immensely worried about Winry once again.

"Everything's okay Ed." Riza said calmly, "I was just checking that what those guys said was true."

"What exactly did they say?" Ed said though clenched teeth.

"Not much after we were done with them." Mustang said knowing that wasn't what Ed meant.

Riza, however, decided to actually answer Ed's question as she stood up from looking at Winry, "They just said that they had added some alcohol to some sodas. Then they somehow coaxed Winry into drinking one or two of them while being very polite with her. Too bad that didn't last once she was actually drunk."

Ed was fuming. What they had done to Winry was completely unforgivable in his opinion. "Tell me that you beat them up," Ed said as his fists clenched involuntarily.

"Oh don't worry about that part," Mustang interjected in, "After you and Winry were gone we threatened them until they told us the full story, and afterwards… well we did everything we had said we would anyway."

Ed smiled slightly to himself knowing that anything Mustang and Hawkeye did would have been pretty good considering their skills in alchemy in firearms. He had no doubt in Mustang's alchemic abilities considering he knew full well how effective his flames could be from personal experience, she same way he knew that Hawkeye was deadly with a gun. He would just have to trust that they took care of those guys.

"You should have seen Riza after one of the guys said something about girls being weak," Mustang added with a small chuckle, "I've never seen her so pissed."

Riza went back to her knees beside Winry to hide a small blush that was starting to creep up on her face at Roy's compliment. She didn't understand why this guy affected her so much.

"Yeah, and you should know how she gets when she's pissed, considering that most of the time its aimed in your direction." Ed said laughing to himself.

"I sure do, although it was a lot more amusing to witness it directed at someone else." Mustang admitted. "Funny thing though," Mustang added sort of as an after thought. "The guys told us that when she was drunk she wouldn't stop talking about automail and you, Ed."

Ed automatically blushed as the memory of Winry's kiss came to mind. He was a little surprised that she had been talking about him to those guys though. Maybe there was a chance that… he didn't know, but suddenly he couldn't take his eyes off Winry.

"So we'll be taking Winry back to her house." Riza said to Ed pulling him abruptly out of deep thought.

"What!" Ed exclaimed apparently a little surprised. Roy and Riza just looked at Ed as he started to try to explain his sudden outburst. "We can't just leave her alone, I mean who is going to look after her while she's in this- this… state." Ed finished lamely.

"I am" Riza said leaving Ed a little dumbfounded. "You and Mustang have-"

"Roy" Mustang said interrupting.

"What?" Riza said surprised at Mustang's sudden interruption.

Roy sighed. "My name is Roy, you don't have to always call me Mustang."

"Fine," Riza held back a blush from her face as she continued. "Roy and you, and I guess Al too, have an alchemy competition tomorrow and so you can't watch Winry tonight. So I'm going to take her back to her house and stay with her."

Ed was hesitant to answer. In his head, the plan made sense, but for some unexplainable reason he didn't like it. He didn't even know why he didn't but, he just didn't. He listened to his head though. "I guess that's for the best," Ed admitted reluctantly.

At that moment, the door suddenly flung open and a laughing Ella and Al entered the apartment with everyone staring at them. It didn't take long for Al and Ella to realize that they weren't alone and that all eyes were on them.

Both were slightly flushed and you could tell that they had been having a great time that night. They quieted down though when they saw Mustang and Hawkeye in the apartment as well as Ed, all looking quite serious. It didn't escape either one's notice on who was missing.

Ella looked at Al letting him voice their question. "Where's Winry?" he asked slightly worried.

Ed tore his eyes from his brother and looked back down toward Winry with his jaw visibly tightening. Mustang smirked at the boy's apparent emotions for Winry, but for once didn't say a word, and Riza decided that someone should answer Al and Ella's question.

"She's fine but she accidentally got drunk at the party," she said directly.

Ella gasped and rushed over to the couch to see for herself her friend's condition. Al walked over behind his girlfriend and after seeing that Winry was asleep, he continued to stare at his brother noticing how Ed's hands were clenched into fists and he was frowning slightly.

"Brother, are you alright?" Al asked setting a hand on his brother's shoulder to catch his attention.

Ed jumped slightly at the contact and then relaxed his hands, for the first time realizing that they were clenched. "I'm fine" he said stoically forcing himself to look away from Winry.

After that there was an uncomfortable silence that Riza decided to break by explaining to Al and Ella the plan to have Roy and her drive Winry back to her own place so she could watch over Winry for the night. Al nodded in agreement to the plan but Ella just looked thoughtful and was peering over at Winry again.

"Can I come too?" she asked Riza politely. "It's just that, well, I don't want to leave her alone, not that she would be alone with you, but I want to be there too." Ella said trying to explain and not offend anyone.

Riza smiled at the young girl, "Sounds like a good idea to me," she said happy to have some company for the night, other than an unconscious Winry.

"Alright, let me just tell my Mom and then we can go, she's still outside waiting on me," Ella said as she bounded out of the apartment, almost tripping as she went. Al couldn't help but smile at her antics after she had left the room.

Ed, on the other hand, was not smiling and was not exactly happy with the ways things were currently going, although like before he knew well enough that he just needed to keep his mouth shut.

Ella came skipping back into the apartment with a large smile on her face, it was obvious that she had gotten permission from her Mom to spend the night at Winry's house. "So when do we go?" she asked looking at Riza for an answer.

"As soon as possible," Riza said motioning for Roy to pick up Winry and carry her to the car. Roy followed her silent order and slipped his arms under Winry's back and knees, to carry her bridal style to his car.

Ed meanwhile, tried to ignore the sudden increase in distaste for Mustang as he carried Winry out the door. Al couldn't help but notice the slight tightening of Ed's jaw as Mustang held Winry. He could only hope that Ed wouldn't do anything too rash. Thankfully he didn't and in a few minutes, Roy, Riza, Ella, and Winry were driving off to Winry's house for the night.

Both Ed and Al went back inside after the car pulled away. Al had no problems sleeping that night as he remembered all the fun him and Ella had at her Mother's party, even though it was mostly adults.

Ed, on the other hand, couldn't get comfortable for the life of him. He blamed being nervous about the alchemy competition the next day, yet the picture of Winry being unconscious on his couch would not leave his mind.

The Next Day

Winry couldn't remember ever being in this much pain. She had just woken up and had a throbbing headache.

"How are you feeling?" a voice asked trying to be gentle, but to Winry it was still too loud so she rose up her arms to cover her poor ears.

"Too loud," she managed to whisper out.

"Oh sorry Winry," the voice said now whispering, "I'll go get Riza."

Winry opened her eyes in the darkness just to be able to see a form jump up from beside her bed and stumble a little before getting out of the door to the room. Winry smiled slightly to herself, she should have known Ella would have been looking after her, and Riza as well.

For a few moments Winry just laid in the dark before realizing that she didn't have any memory what-so-ever of what had happened last night. Her head throbbed again causing her to bury it in her pillow in hopes of making it feel better. Unfortunately, it didn't really help.

She guessed that she was just going to have to wait for Riza and Ella to come and tell her what happened. Speaking of them; she heard quiet whispering outside the door before the two graciously made their entrance. She was happy that they decided to leave the light off in her room, making the room not too bright but at least light enough that the three could just make out each other. Although, Winry's head was still stuffed into her pillow, not letting her see anything.

Winry felt the bed bend slightly and knew that someone had sat down on in next to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and then Riza whispered to her.

"Are you alright Winry?" she asked in a soft voice. Ella apparently had already informed Riza of Winry's sensitivity to sound, which Winry was very grateful for.

"What exactly happened last night?" Winry asked into her pillow making it slightly muffled but still audible to her two friends.

Riza and Ella looked at each other, neither exactly sure what to say to Winry. Finally, Riza spoke once again in whispers. "I'll tell you but first you have to sit up and drink this."

Winry turned her head slightly as to peer up and see that Ella was holding out a glass of something for Winry to have. Winry sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get out of this one, and began to sit up causing her head to throb even harder.

Once she was up, Ella handed her the glass. She looked in it curiously not quite sure what it was and a little afraid to drink it but almost everything had to be better than the 'I must have licked the floor taste' in her mouth. That was the problem though, **almost **everything.

Therefore, Winry looked up at Ella questioningly. She knew better to look at Riza for an answer because if the drink was bad then that girl would easily be able to lie though her teeth and tell her that whatever this was, it was okay to drink. Hell, she might even say that it was excellent.

Ella just smiled at her though, making Winry unsure of what the substance was. "Its just some remedy for hangovers that we found, although we're not exactly sure that it will work too well," Ella admitted to Winry willingly still smiling.

Winry knew better than to put off drinking the unknown substance, and decided to just chug it as fast as possible. She lifted the glass to her lips and let it trickle into her mouth almost spiting it back out in surprise.

"It's just chocolate milk!" she exclaimed just loud enough for her head to hurt slightly more than it had been for the last two minutes.

Ella giggled slightly at Winry's reaction while Riza smiled at her before explaining. "Ella had read somewhere that chocolate milk helps with hangovers and we thought it was worth a try, honestly we're not sure it will work that well."

Winry smiled back at her friends and began to drink the rest of the glass of milk enjoying it rather than drinking it as fast as possible like she had originally planned. _If nothing else it has gotten rid of the bad taste in my mouth._

Once done she set the glass on her nightstand and looked at Ella and Riza seriously, implying that she wanted her previous question answered. Ella blushed and looked down not wanting to tell Winry, but Riza just jumped right into the story.

She explained everything from when she and Roy had arrived at the scene to find a angry Ed and a drunken Winry being held by some punks, Ed leaving with her, Roy and her questioning the punks and then beating them up anyway, to finally finding Winry at Ed and Al's apartment where Ella and Al had joined the scene.

Winry was starting to remember some of the things that Riza was explaining but for the most part it was a blur. What she really wanted to know though was what had happened while Ed had taken her home. She racked her brain for any sort of memory but nothing came to it so she was forced to ask Riza.

"Riza do you know what happened with me and Ed after we left you guys?" she asked nervously. She had already made a fool of herself just by getting drunk but now she was worried about how she might have acted around Ed alone.

"Actually that's a good question Winry, he didn't fill us in on what exactly happened when we showed up at the apartment." Riza said curiously. Of course she had noticed Ed not exactly being thrilled at the prospect Winry being taken away from him but at the time she had been more worried about Winry than Ed's feelings.

"All I know is that Ed didn't look too happy," Ella said hoping that maybe now she could contribute to the conversation and help in some way.

"I bet he was mad that I got drunk." Winry said sighing to herself, while she had yet to admit to any of her friends that she had a crush on Ed, they could see it as easily as if it was written on her forehead.

"I wouldn't say that." Riza said seriously to Winry catching her complete attention.

"I agree with Riza," Ella piped up, "He looked more worried then actually mad."

For a moment Winry felt a ripple of happiness causing her to smile absentmindedly to herself. _Ed was worried about me._ Somehow this simple idea warmed her heart so much. _He may not care about me in the same way I do about him, but at least he cares about me, and for now that's enough._

At the Alchemy Competition

"Concentrate Fullmetal!" Roy yelled from the sidelines.

Ed barely managed to doge the sword of his combatant, some guy who said his name was "The Slicer." What kind of a guy has a name like that?

"What's wrong with him, he's normally better than this." Roy asked turning to his other two teammates.

Al and Armstrong shook their heads in agreement. "So what exactly is up with him?" Mustang asked foucusing back on Ed who had once again just barley dodged "The Slicer." When nobody answered, Roy looked expectantly at Al who jumped a little at the sudden attention especially while his brother was still fighting.

"Well," Al started sheepishly "All I know is that he hasn't been acting the same since you guys drove away with Winry last night."

All three boys knew exactly what was going on with Ed but choose not to vocalize it as the looked back to Ed's fight.

"Damn Fullmetal," Roy said cursing under his breath. "Figure out your love life before you mess up our Alchemy competitions."

With Ed

"Damn does this guy ever stop coming" Ed said as he once again flipped out of the way of his adversary.

They had been battling for a good twenty minutes and Ed still wasn't sure exactly how to defeat the guy. Thus, he was tired, sweaty, sore, and most of all… he heard Mustang yell at him again from the sidelines, "Look I heard you the first time!" he shouted back at him… distracted.

"You should pay better attention" The Slicer said at he swiped his sword though the air once again causing Ed to flip back, but not soon enough. Ed winced slightly as he felt the tip of the sword just barely cut him on the face. It wasn't a deep cut or by any means a life threatening one but it stung like hell.

"You're getting tired and therefore slower, while I still have energy, you should give up before you really get hurt." The Slicer said confidently.

Ed just smirked though and said "No, I'm good," before jumping right back into battle with his adversary.

The next few minutes were long and repetitive as each of the opponents continued to attack one another and dodge the other's attacks.

_I have to find a weakness of his but that damn sword keeps getting in my way… I wonder if Winry's okay. Stop it Ed, you can't think about her while you're battling or else you are going to get hurt again._

"Maybe you should focus on your battle?" The Slicer asked once again swinging his sword at Ed who nimbly leaped out of the way and rolled to the ground to swing his leg out and knock over his opponent.

The Slicer was a quick thinker though and managed to keep his balance by jamming his sword into the ground. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn't come back out of the floor. Unfortunately, he had a second sword with him. This did however give Ed two seconds to think before the next attack came.

_I hope Winry's alright, if she isn't then I swear that I'll find those punks and beat the… crap, why am I thinking about Winry when I should be focused on my battle._

"What could be more important than this battle, because obviously something is bothering you?" The Slicer said just as if he was stating a fact while lunging at Ed with his new sword.

_Winry_, and then it hit Ed like a bag of bricks. He liked his best friend, not just as a friend but as something more, something more romantic. He tried to remember a time when he hadn't felt for Winry this way, but for the life of him couldn't.

Just then Ed remembered that he was in a fight. He dodged the sword once again getting annoyed with the repetitiveness of this fight, but the blade was too quick and made contact with him. Fortunately it only hit his automail arm so no damage was done.

_Wait, that's it, my automail arm._ Ed had an idea to defeat this guy.

The Slicer came at him running with his sword up in the air to come down on Ed, Ed didn't run or even try to dodge, he just stayed right where he was. As his opponent's sword came down upon him, he simply clapped and then shot his right hand up to catch the sword.

For a moment nothing happened as The Slicer seemed mildly surprised that Ed had just caught his sword, and Ed was just smirking at him, until he felt his automail jam up. _Crap_. Then the sword exploded apart into little pieces.

Some of the slivers shot off in The Slicer's direction not doing any serious damage but hurting him slightly. However, Ed was careful to make sure none of the pieces hit him.

Then quick as possible Ed clapped his hands together, although not as well as usual as something was messing up on his automail, pulled a spear out of the ground, and put it to The Slicer's throat while he was still in shock of his sword breaking.

The Slicer looked up at Ed and smiled slightly, "A well done job, you've shown exceptional skill and defeated me. I know when I'm beat, I surrender."

Officials came out onto the field to make sure both students were alright, now that the match was over, and patched up some of their cuts, even putting some disinfectant on the cut on Ed's face.

Mustang, Armstrong, and Al came up to Ed as he looked at his arm and tried to move it, but it seemed to be jamming up still. "Crap, Winry's going to kill me."

* * *

Yeah I didn't update for two weeks, I think that was the longest time I have ever taken to update. But hey it was the longest chapter so far, so I think that maybe it was worth the wait.

So basically I want everyone to understand what occurred in this chapter. Winry has a crush on Ed and believes that he just cares for her as a friend and decides to settle for that. (Also she obviously doesn't remember what happened while she was drunk, sucks but I had to do it.) On the other hand, Ed has just figured out that he likes Winry as more than a friend.

Also, my reason for not updating, (I always have to have an excuse, hehehe) I had a group at school that made a documentary for National History Day (yeah I'm a nerd) and it went to State this last weekend where it made it to finals and then didn't get anything, so my group got 6th or 5th in state. So, getting ready for the competition was what kept me so busy because, after Regionals you have to edit your documentary to make it better for state and my group had to do a ton of editing.

If you are still interested, (which you probably aren't) I'm getting one of my group members to post the documentary on utube and when he does I'll try to put in a hyperlink or something to it.

Also I might be a little slow about updating until after the 27th because that is the last day of my dance recital and I am having to dance a ton to get ready for it.

And last but not least, I have set up a fictionpress account and will be uploading a small satire to it this Wednesday (because they have a two day waiting period after getting an account) I hope you all check it out because I think you will laugh at it. My account there is the same as here: Fantasy Fan Girl.

Keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	30. Chapter 30 Reactions

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

**Chapter 30**

_Maybe she won't get too mad at me… Yeah right. _Ed was currently standing in front of the phone at his apartment; he just seemed to be having some problems with picking it up and dialing Winry's number.

He seemed to have two options. He could either call Winry right now and have her rush over to his house and get mad at him and then fix his arm that still wasn't working, or he could wait until tomorrow when they went back to school and have her find out there and get mad at him for breaking her automail as well as not telling her about it as soon as possible.

When he thought about it the second option would probably get him into more trouble, but all the same, calling Winry and pretty much telling on himself seemed like a stupid idea.

Not only that, but he still wasn't exactly sure how he was going to react to Winry once he saw her, now that he knew how he truly felt about her. He had originally not been able to admit to his feelings, but now couldn't deny them, and the fact that Winry had kissed him didn't make things any easier.

Before he could walk away from the phone, Al walked past and said, "If you don't call her right now, then I will."

From the look in his little brother's eyes, Ed knew that he would do it too and knew that if Winry had to find out from someone other than him that she would probably kill him.

_Well here goes nothing_, and with that, Ed dialed Winry's number. He didn't have to wait very long before Winry answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Winry Rockbell speaking, if you are calling about automail I would be happy to give you the phone number to the Rockbell Automail Shop."

"Hey Winry," Ed said sounding deflated, "It's just me, Ed, umm… you weren't in the best shape last night, are you okay now?" he asked honestly worried about Winry but all the same still stalling in the back of his mind.

"Oh hey Ed, I'm fine now. Ella and Riza whipped me up something that made me feel loads better. Thanks for asking." Winry said cheerfully happy that Ed obviously cared for her even if it wasn't the way she wanted.

"Actually I was kind of wondering when you would get done with your Alchemy competition. How did it go?" she asked curious about it because for once she hadn't gotten to go and see if for herself.

"We all did fine… and won." Ed added as an afterthought, still trying to stall but knowing that the unavoidable was coming.

"Is something wrong Ed, you don't sound like yourself." Winry asked finally noting Ed's tone of voice.

He took a deep breath knowing exactly what was going to happen next. "Well I'm okay for the most part but-"

"One second Ed," Winry interrupted, "Ella and Riza want to know how you guys did."

_Well crap, Winry going to freak when I tell her and Riza and Ella will be right there to witness the whole thing._ "Go ahead," Ed said feeling as if this day couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Okay, and then you can tell me what you were going to say," Winry said before Ed heard a slight tap in the phone signaling that she had set it down for a moment.

_She defiantly is going to kill me. _His stomach hurt just thinking about it while waiting for Winry to come back on the line.

Finally after what seemed like forever to Ed, Winry returned to the phone. "I'm back now; both the girls say congratulations, although it's the most particular thing…"

"What," Ed strained to say without letting his voice crack.

"The fact that you called me before Al called Ella, she always is the first to know everything about anything with you guys," Winry stated.

"Al told me that my call was more important than his," Ed stated dryly.

Winry was silent for a moment. _What the heck could be more important, then Al talking to his girlfriend? Those two always seem like they are talking. _"So what is the important news?" she asked curiously.

"Well when I was fighting at the competition" Winry's stomach sank, this wasn't going to be good. "I caught my opponent's sword with my right arm and it kind of jammed up and now it won't move."

On Winry's end of the line there was only silence. "Winry are you still there?"

"Edward, when I get there you are so dead." Winry said in a voice that could kill before Ed heard a click meaning that she had already hung up.

_Oh Crap. _"Hey Al!" Ed yelled upstairs to his little brother. "Winry's coming to hunt me down and Ella and Riza should be with her." Now all that was left to do was wait.

But it wasn't too long before there were three hard and threatening knocks on the door. Al rushed downstairs to see his girlfriend, as well as what was going to happen.

Ed opened the door slowly only to be hit hard with a wrench smack dab middle of his forehead causing him to fall on to his back. He then sat up quickly as a bump started to form on his head and yelled, "Geez Winry, are you trying to kill me or something!"

"I don't have to because one of these days you're going to kill yourself!" Winry yelled back at him as she stormed forward to scoop up her wrench to hit Ed a few more times hoping to knock some sense into him, Ed couldn't help but notice that she also had on a tool belt and he involuntarily gulped in reaction.

As their yelling match proceeded, Ella ran into the apartment and squealed "Al" right before running into his open arms where he picked her up and swung her around as she giggled.

Riza followed in after Ella at a much more relaxed pace and only looked slightly amused by Winry and Ed's fight. All the same she stayed silent as she walked over to Al and Ella who were smiling at each other as well as the two fighting teens. How exactly they were managing to pull that one off, Riza didn't know but all the same that's what they seemed to be doing.

She began to watch Ed and Winry's argument along with Al and Ella. That's when she noticed the difference. "Ed's figured it out." She stated calmly.

"What do you mean Riza?" Ella said looking confusedly at her.

"Just watch their fight." Riza explained. "Earlier this year when they would fight, they were obviously mad at each other but now…" The three looked at the fight occurring.

Winry was yelling at Ed that he worried everyone when he was reckless during a fight and didn't think, but Ed just retaliated with that Winry also scared everyone when she had gotten drunk.

"They are actually more worried about each other than truly mad." Riza finished.

Al and Ella could only nod their head's in agreement noting how there was a slight blush on both Ed and Winry's faces, and they were pretty sure it was not just from yelling.

"Well, I'm going to go home now." Riza said smiling slightly to herself. "I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," and with that she walked out the door.

For a moment Ella and Al were silent as Ed and Winry continued to fight completely oblivious to anything else.

"You want to go get some ice cream Ella?" Al suddenly asked wanting to get away from the yelling as well as wanting to leave Ed and Winry alone.

"That would be wonderful." Ella replied back smiling knowing that this was just an excuse to get away from the fighting but all the same realizing that they probably would get ice cream anyway.

The two got out of there as fast as possible and began to walk down the street towards a little sweets shop that they had heard, had the best homemade ice cream ever.

As they walked, Al automatically grabbed Ella's hand and gave it a little squeeze while smiling at her. She couldn't help but blush slightly and give his hand a little squeeze back.

_I still can't seem to understand how someone as great as Al ever would want me. _Ella leaned her head on Al's shoulder as they walked in silence. It was this kind of moment that Ella enjoyed more than any other, the moments where they just seemed to understand each other more than anything else. Sometimes she was sure that Al understood her better than she did herself.

_But then why hasn't he kissed me yet? I mean he kisses me on my cheek all the time now but we've never __**really **__kissed. He probably doesn't like me as much as I like him. Or maybe love him…I don't know really what true love should feel like, so how can I say for sure that I love him. I can't._

Ella didn't mean to, but ended up frowning to herself slightly. Al noticed she was being bothered by something but chose not to ask. He knew that she would tell him if she wanted to.

Still all the same he wanted her to tell him. And even more than that, he wanted to kiss her. Not on the cheek like all the other times, but a real kiss. _But just because I'm ready for that next step doesn't mean that she is. I'll wait until she is ready._

Ed and Winry

Ed just didn't know what to do. He was currently sitting in his living room… alone. He and Winry had kept arguing even after everyone had left, not even noticing they were gone.

For some reason or another, this fight had gotten to be much larger than usual. At a certain point in most of their fights, Ed normally backed down not caring to fight any longer. In this case though, the thing keeping him from stopping was the constant thought of her suspecting some of his new found feelings for her.

Thus the fight had continued on not really growing but not calming down either, that is until Winry commented on how Ed was always being reckless. For some reason or another, this statement pretty much had pissed Ed off.

"What do you mean I'm reckless, you're the one who would have gotten hurt if I hadn't been there to save your sorry ass! Maybe I shouldn't have!" Ed had yelled at Winry at the top of his lungs.

Afterwards, only silence had filled the two's ears as silent tears also began to fill Winry's eyes. She had then quietly turned and walked away into Ed's room without another word. Ed didn't even think about following her, even if it was his own room.

Ed knew that he had gone too far with that last comment as Winry had walked away from him, but he had just gotten so frustrated. He knew that she hadn't intentionally put herself in danger the other day. She had probably just left him at the party not wanting to wake him up.

Thus now Ed was in quite a predicament not sure what to do.

He sat silently on his couch just watching the second hand tick in the clock on the wall. Two minutes passed, then ten, then twenty five, and finally the door to his room swung open to reveal her looking very determined.

"Let's get started," she said storming over to Ed, wrench ready if he said even one word of protest. Ed knew better though and did as she said, taking a seat on the left side of the couch where she was pointing to, thus leaving her plenty of room to look at his arm.

Winry then got on her knees on the couch and began to examine his arm hoping not to have to take it completely off in order to fix it. She started at his fingertips and worked her way up his arm noting all the small maintenance that was needed to be done, but soon she ran into a slight problem.

"Hey Ed," she said quietly only now noticing that the boy had his eyes closed and looked as if he might have been sleeping.

"Yeah," he replied back opening one eye to look at Winry.

What she didn't know was that before she had looked over at him, he had been entranced by the way that her fingers were moving over his arm. Her touch was so simple and yet it was strong. Embarrassed that he had been staring at her, he had automatically acted as if he was asleep so that she wouldn't catch him.

Winry blushed at what she had to say next, "Your shirt is getting in my way."

They both knew what Winry was really trying to say and were embarrassed about it and trying to cover up their blushes so that the other wouldn't notice. Then again neither noticed the other's embarrassment due to their own.

Even through this, Ed slowly reached down and slipped off his shirt as quickly as possible, his mind reasoning _the sooner we start, the sooner we will finish._

"Thanks," Winry mumbled as she went back to work, this time completely loosing herself in the automail.

Ed meanwhile was kicking himself for not having taken off his shirt earlier. That was something that he knew that he had to do in order for Winry to really check his arm, and yet he had just forgotten. _I probably looked like an idiot._

Ed looked over at Winry to see her unscrewing something, realigning it slightly before screwing it back in, and continued to watch as she performed other maintenance work. Her eyebrows wrinkled slightly as she looked at one of his hinges concentrating hard on whether or not it needed to be taken off to be fixed.

Ed couldn't help but think that she was cute, and then he felt guilty. _Here I made her mad and how does she repay me… she fixes my arm even if she is still mad at me. _

He didn't notice as he subconsciously leaned closer to her, studying her every move. Finally he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Winry," he said quietly.

"uh-huh," she replied to show that she was listening but all the same she was still concentrating very hard on what she was doing.

"I'm… sorry"

Winry froze mid action not quite believing her ears.

"You know for saying what I did earlier." Ed finished taking Winry's silence as a cue to keep talking.

"Really?" Winry said as she turned her head to look at Ed, only to find that his face was a few mere inches away from hers.

Both immediately pulled back in embarrassment due to their previous proximity to one another.

"Yeah," Ed said trying to forget how close his lips had been to hers once again.

"So would you do it again?" Winry asked curiously but cautiously.

Ed seemed confused for a moment before realization dawned upon him and he answered her. "Oh you mean yell at you, well I'll try not to but you know how we always seem to scream at each other-"

"No Ed," Winry interrupted him. "I mean save me again."

Ed looked at Winry completely serious, "Winry, you once told me that even though I wanted to do everything on my own, that you would always be there. That if I ever needed anything all I had to do was to ask and you would try your hardest to help. You said that you would be there whether I needed it or not. I think it's time that I let you know that the same goes for you."

The moment Ed had finished, Winry flung her arms around his neck in the biggest hug that she could manage.

For a moment Ed wasn't quite sure what to do with his arms, on one hand he wanted to more than anything pull her close and bury his face in her hair just as she was burying hers into his neck. The other part told him that he should push her away.

In the end, Ed gave in partially and very hesitantly. He tentatively set his arms around her almost as if he was afraid they might harm her in some way.

At the feeling of Ed's arms returning her gesture, Winry felt her eyes begin to tear up unintentionally and pulled back right away to wipe the tears up from her eyes not wanting to cry in Ed's presence.

Ed smiled slightly knowing that he didn't particularly enjoy Winry crying, but all the same knowing that she wasn't crying about anything bad… or at least he didn't think that she was.

He began to second guess himself wondering if he had actually said something wrong to her and caused her tears. "Winry are you-"

"I'm fine Ed," Winry said smiling up at him even as a few of her tears managed to stream down her face. "Just happy."

"Oh that's good," Ed said lamely.

All the same Winry couldn't help but smile a little broader as he visibly relaxed at finding out that she was okay. "You're such a worry wart," she said slightly giggling at him.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME AS SMALL AS A WART?!" Ed demanded right away.

"Ed!" Winry said fiercely back.

"What?!" he demanded once again.

"Shut up!!" she yelled at him.

Figuring that one big fight was enough for that day, Ed took her advice and zipped his lips.

* * *

So that wasn't originally where I was going to end the chapter but then I wrote that and thought it was a good ending and it amused me. Hehehe.

I should be updating more regularly now that dance is no longer crazy and Thursday was my last day of high school. (Now it's on to college, woot!) So check your emails more and expect more updates.

And just to tease you all, there should be a character introduction in the next chapter. Well kinda, you will all just have to see. Hehehe.


	31. Chapter 31 Surprises and Confusion

I guess this chapter could have spoilers in its own way. Just a warning to all of yall.

Also last chapter was the last of the Winter Arc, this chapter starts the Random Arc, such a lovely name. Sorry I couldn't think of what else to call it because that's pretty much what it is. It should be the shortest arc I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 31**

The next day was the first day back at school after the holidays, also known as the worst day of the year. Everyone always managed to stay up too late the night before and therefore was too tired for school the next day.

"Today is going to suck." Ed said as Winry, Al, Ella, and him walked down the hallways towards the student council room.

"Really?" Winry said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Ed who in turn glared at her although it didn't exactly have the desired effect as Winry remained unfazed.

"Umm, may I ask why exactly today is going to be bad?" Ella asked innocently.

Ed resisted the urge to glare at the girl. She was one of those few people in the world that definitely was a morning person. The moment that she woke up she was completely awake, much to the annoyance of her friends.

It's not like she purposely tried to get under people's skin with her cheerfulness in the morning. It was impossible that she could she be in such high spirits that early in the day.

_Well the fact that she can't physically stay up till 12 without having a nap on any particular day probably has something to do with her being such a morning person._

Suddenly a yelp came from the student council room waking everyone up with a start. The four looked at one another before all of them took off running toward the classroom wanting to know exactly what was going on.

Upon entrance to the room all four of them had to hold back giggles at the scene sprawled out before them.

Breada was on top of a few of the desks looking terribly frightened and pointed to Fuery who was reaching down to the ground to pick up a cute little black and white puppy who was not at all threatening but just sitting there with his tongue hanging out slightly.

Meanwhile, Riza, Havoc, Falman stood bye looking upon the whole incident with amusement.

"Get that thing away from me!" Breada demanded jumping back another desk to try to put more room between him and the dog. "It shouldn't even be in here, dogs aren't allowed in the school!"

"Seriously, what is a dog doing in the school?" Winry asked walking into the room and over to Fury as to pat the cute puppy's head, while Al closed the door behind them to keep the rest of the school from finding out about the dog.

Ed and Ella had meanwhile gone over to a few of the desks near Fury and had sat down on top of them because technically the school day hadn't started yet.

"Well," Fuery began to explain. "He was outside the school doors all on his own and I knew that if I just left him there the security guards would have chased after him and taken him to the pound if he had been caught."

"Are you gonna keep him?" Ella asked curiously as Winry took the cute little puppy from Fuery's arms and took him over to Ella who cautiously put out her arms to hold the little puppy slightly worried about dropping it.

"I would keep it, but my Mom has a strict rule of no pets and there is no way I could take it to college with me," Fuery said obviously disappointed.

"Well that doesn't mean that he can just stay in here for the rest of the year." Riza commented knowing better than to fool everyone with delusions that they could hide such a young dog at the school.

"Well why don't one of you guys take him?" Fuery asked hopefully.

"I can't, I live in an apartment and they don't allow any pets there." Falman said shaking his hands in front of himself.

"I would take him but I don't believe that Grandma or my parents want more than one dog and we already have Din." Winry said scratching the puppy behind its ears, much to its delight.

"Don't look at me to take him," Ella said sadly. "My Mom's allergic to dogs."

"Brother could we-" Al started.

"No" Ed said calmly cutting him off.

Al pouted slightly but didn't say a word knowing by now that he would not be able to change his brother's mind.

"Don't worry, I'll take him off your hands," Havoc suddenly piped up.

"Really?" Fuery asked positively beaming with happiness at Havoc's last revelation.

"Yeah I like dogs," he continued as he picked up the dog by the scruff of his neck from Ella's lap.

"Thank's Havoc, he's really sweet." Fuery commented with relief.

"Sure, I hear they're good when stir fried. A few spices. Yes sir, here in the East they raise them as a delicacy, especially these plump ones."

Fuery, Al, and the girls looked absolutely horrified at Havoc, and Riza quickly snatched the puppy away from Havoc and handing it back to Fuery saying, "Let's try to find him a better owner, okay."

"Good plan" he said relived to have the puppy back in safe arms.

"Please it was a joke" Havoc said trying to make the other's understand. Too bad no one really listened to his protest.

"Well who else could take him?" Winry asked everyone as they all began to think of ideas.

"What about Armstrong?" Ella asked just popping out the first person who came to mind before really thinking about what she was saying.

At that idea, everyone in the room shuttered slightly. No one was quite sure what would happen if Armstrong had a dog, but they weren't too keen on the idea of finding out.

And with that idea fresh in their minds, the bell rang for the day to begin as they all gathered their belongings to rush to class leaving a quite oblivious but happy puppy behind in the student council room.

As Al and Ella walked together to their first period class, Al couldn't help but slip his hand into his girlfriends and smile down at her. She on the other hand appeared to be thinking very hard like just the other day. He knew that she would tell him if she wanted to, but all the same it was hard not to be curious about it.

"Is anything wrong Ella?" Al asked curiously also knowing that she wouldn't tell him a thing unless she really wanted to.

"huh," Ella first replied having not really been listening to Al. "Sorry what did you say?"

Al smiled at Ella and relayed his question again, understanding why she hadn't quite heard it the first time.

"Sorry Al," Ella said feeling bad at first not hearing his question and then also for making him worry even if it was only slightly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Anything I can help with?" Al asked.

Ella almost stopped breathing for a moment. Truth be told she didn't have too much on her mind, really she only had one thing on her mind. _Al._

They had been together for months and still the boy had not kissed her or even made a move to do so. Did he truthfully not like her enough to take the next step, or maybe he just was too much of a coward to do it. But that didn't seem like Al.

Maybe it was just her. Maybe she was the one that was supposed to do something, but you think that the guy would at least make some sort of hint about it or something.

All she knew for sure was that she couldn't tell Al what she had been thinking.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Ella said giving his hand a little squeeze of insurance. She only hoped that if she kept saying that, then she might start believing it as well.

At Lunch

Ella sighed as she took a seat at the lunch table that the Student Council group normally all sat at. She wasn't the first one there, Riza and Winry were both already sitting at the table but all the same she didn't seem to notice them as thoughts flew though her mind.

What had begun as a stray thought of why she and Al hadn't kissed had kept growing all day to the point that now she was sure she had done something wrong or it was at least her fault that their relationship hadn't grown after months of being together.

Ella couldn't help but sigh again as worry etched its way on to her face, as she buried her head into her arms.

It was very apparent to both Winry and Riza that something was up with Ella because she was normally the most happy of the group.

Knowing that Ella was not one to complain often, Winry and Riza stood up from their places at the table and moved to sit on either side of their troubled friend.

"Is something the matter Ella?" Winry asked careful not to surprise her friend.

Ella looked up at Winry and then Riza and gave them both a half smile trying to hide all her thoughts behind it. "I'm fine," she said but even it didn't seem fully sure of itself. She then looked away from the other girls as she reached down to begin to get out her lunch although she didn't think she would be able to eat much.

Riza and Winry just looked at each other not believing a word that Ella had just said.

"Look Ella," Riza began, "we can't help you unless you tell us what's wrong."

For a moment Ella was silent still not wanting to complain or anything to her friends but finally she gave in and spoke. "Guys…" Her voice became much quieter than normally and she looked down as her hands took a hold of her elbows and she slouched slightly almost as if to retreat inside of herself. "Is something wrong with me?"

Riza and Winry didn't say anything for a moment, although Ella wasn't the most showy person they knew, she had never really had confidence issues.

"And you have to tell me the truth." Ella suddenly demanded as she snapped her head up to look at each of her friends.

When both of them were silent Ella took it as that they had too many faults to choose from and not that they were just slightly dumbfounded.

"Oh I knew that something was wrong with me," she said as she threw up her arms before burying her head in them once again on the table.

"Ella, nothing is wrong with you." Riza said keeping a cool face even though she was mildly surprised at Ella's sudden lack of self-confidence.

"Yeah, I mean you have a tendency to be a little gullible at times and always expect the best in people, but that's nothing to worry about, I mean we are all just humans and humans make mistakes." Winry said patting her friend on the back.

"Where is this coming from anyway?" Riza asked curiously.

"It's been almost four months since me and Al got together, and…" Ella said trailing off and slightly muffled as her head was still in her arms.

"And what?" Winry asked now just as curious as Riza.

Ella paused not really sure if she wanted to say what she was thinking aloud but realizing that Winry probably would bug her until she knew the answer to her question she decided to just say it and get it over with.

She looked up and glanced around to see if anyone else was anywhere near them and then whispered "we haven't kissed," only to blush fiercely after saying it.

"Why not," Winry asked next hoping to keep Ella talking.

"I don't know," Ella answered, "All I know is that he hasn't even made a single move to try and kiss me."

"Don't worry so much Ella," Riza said completely sure of herself, "you'll get your kiss with time."

"Thanks" Ella said truly grateful for her friend's confidence, "It's just that I want to kiss him so bad," she then said almost sighing at the end.

"Who?" a different voice said causing both Winry and Riza to swivel around in their chairs to find a wide eye Al behind them, while Ella on the other hand had recognized the voice and not needed a visual to go with it.

Before another word was spoken from anyone, Ella jumped out of her seat only to fall to the floor as she had tripped over her own book bag.

"Are you okay Ella?" Al had cried in fear bending down to help her up, but before he could touch her, she was back on her feet and dashing out of the cafeteria as tears began to fall from her eyes, and happening to bump shoulders with Ed who was entering the cafeteria.

Very confused, Ed trotted over to their table and asked "What the hell is going on here?"

At seeing his baby brother just staring dumbfounded at the door that Ella had just exited, he then asked "Hey you okay Al?"

"She likes someone else," Al said still staring at the door in disbelief.

"Who are we talking about, Ella?" Ed asked confused but pretty sure that his guess was wrong. After all, Ella was practically in love with Al there was no way she could like anyone else.

"Yeah Ella," Al said shocking Ed and making Winry immediately retaliate.

"What the heck are you talking about Al?!" she demanded wondering how he was coming up with this crap.

Al continued as if he hadn't heard Winry at all. "She's been acting weird all day and actually for a while now. I just shook it off thinking that she would tell me what was on her mind when she was ready but now I see what she was feeling," Al paused as his voice caught in his throat. "She doesn't like me anymore, and I bet she wants to break up with me."

"I told that girl to treat you right," Ed said getting pissed, "and if she thinks this is treating you right then she's just a-"

But before he could finish, Winry interrupted him yelling "Edward Elric."

"What?! I'm just saying the truth," Ed retaliated back

"The truth is that you and Al don't know the whole story," Riza said looking Ed directly in the eyes.

"Yeah, Ella wasn't talking about someone else," Winry said setting her hand on Al's shoulder. He then turned around looking a little confused and scared as she continued "She was talking about you Al," she said smiling slightly at the boy as his cheeks began to redden as realization dawned upon him.

"You mean she wants to… me?" Al said looking very flustered but much happier.

"Yeah" Winry said smiling widely at Al.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Ed suddenly asked but for the moment was just ignored.

"But then why did she run away when I overheard?" Al asked then confused once again.

"Overheard what?" Ed demanded to know but once again was ignored.

"I suspect that she was just embarrassed because she doesn't think that you want to do the same to her," Riza said giving Al a half smile.

"Do what to her?" Ed asked getting more and more frustrated by the second as he was ignored once again.

"So what should I do?" Al asked hoping that the girls would give him some advice.

"Maybe you could tell me what the hell is going on." Ed suggested trying not to yell but beginning to fail as his voice automatically was raised.

"Go after her!" Winry yelled frustrated that even Al needed to be told something so simple.

"Go after who!?" Ed asked now beginning to lose it as his voice could be considered a yell although just slightly.

"Are you sure? I mean she might just want to be alone for a while." Al said not really sure if he should follow Winry's advice.

"Yes I'm sure." Winry said sighing at Al.

"Sure about what!?" Ed yelled now really starting to get angry at being ignored for so long.

"Go get her Al," Riza commented to the boy, "She was alone while we were explaining everything, and she probably needs to talk to you and the sooner she does the better."

"WHY!?" Ed shouted almost directly into Winry's ear.

"Okay," Al said nodding his head toward the girls. "I'll see you later guys," he said as he turned on his heel and ran out of the cafeteria as the rest of the group came in.

"DAMN IT WINRY, IS ANYONE GOING TO TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!!" Ed shouted, going crazy with anticipation.

* * *

Okay so the next chapter and this one were originally all one chapter but at it was getting much too long for my normal chapter length I decided to split it up.

Also thanks for all the reviews, I've been having an awesome time checking my email and always having mail. You guys are all awesome!

FFG- Jo


	32. Chapter 32 First

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

**Chapter 32**

Al rushed though the hallways looking for Ella, he knew that she wouldn't go where people were but most of the classrooms would be locked during lunch.

_I hope she didn't go in a bathroom. Then I'd have no way to get to her and wouldn't be able to fix everything, _fortunately only one other place came to mind where she might have gone, and he hoped for his sake that she would be there.

Al ran to the student council room as fast as he could and opened the door cautiously expecting to hear someone crying in the room. He was surprised to find that the room appeared empty. Now he really had no idea where she was, and then he heard it.

It wasn't very loud at all, but Al could hear the sound of someone sniffling. That left only one place for her to be, the closet in the Student Council room that happened to serve as a giant locker for all of its members.

Very carefully Al turned the doorknob and gently pulled the door open although only enough to be able to slip though it and close it back behind him.

The single light was on in the closet and there on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees and head buried in them, was Ella. At the moment she appeared to not be crying so much as getting over a good cry. Her breath was uneven and shuttered a little as she exhaled.

With the small click of the door closing she realized that she was no longer alone and looked up to find the one person who she wanted to avoid more than anything. Her eyes were slightly puffy and a little pink and it was obvious what she had been doing.

Al sat down right next to Ella barely fitting being as the closet was pretty small and not really meant for people to sit in. Ella shuddered at Al's shoulder touching her own making him feel a pang in his heart that was worse than anything he had felt before.

"Ella?" he asked softly moving his hand to take hers.

Ella however was just sure that she knew what he was going to say and that it would be a break up and rather than hearing it she figured if she just never spoke to Al again it would be pretty obvious that they weren't going out anymore. Sure it would hurt for a while and maybe even forever but if Al was happy without her maybe somehow she could be happy without him.

After all, the break up was her fault. She had rushed him and she should have just kept her mouth shut.

So before Al could actually grasp her hand she leapt to her feet to rush out again on him, but unfortunately for Ella things did not happen as they had last time. Two steps out of the closet door, Ella fell to the floor hissing as a sharp pain had sprung up her left leg the moment she had put pressure on it.

"Ella!" Al shouted at seeing her fall to the floor and grasp her ankle in pain. One look at her face told Al that she hadn't just fallen because of her own clumsiness this time.

"What happened?" Al asked going down on one knee beside her looking for some sort of injury.

"My ankle." Ella said clenching her teeth in pain as Al took her hands in his pulling them away from the ankle that she was holding. At a glance Al could tell that Ella's left ankle was swollen.

"When did this happen?" Al asked still looking carefully at her ankle.

"Well, when I ran out of the cafeteria earlier, I tripped on my book bag and I think I twisted it on accident," Ella admitted slightly embarrassed for her clumsiness.

"One second, I think we have some bandages in the closet that I could wrap it up with, so that it won't be so painful to walk on," Al said rushing back over to the closet to find some bandages .

"Put your arms around my neck" Al ordered as he bent down to slip his arms around Ella's back and under her knees.

"What?" Ella asked confused and surprised at Al's request.

"I have to move you to on top of a desk so that it will be easier for me to fix your ankle," Al answered back explaining everything.

"Oh," Ella said sounding slightly disappointed behind Al's reasoning and put her arms lightly around his neck trying to avoid as much contact as possible, which changed immediately to much tighter the moment Al lifted her up in his arms.

When he set Ella upon a desk she immediately felt relieved, not that she thought that Al would have dropped her but there is always the chance. Al immediately went back down to one knee to wrap up Ella's ankle.

"Look at this," Ella said slightly amused. "Here I was trying to get away and when I fell you just picked me up and fixed me no big deal."

Al was silent for a moment before responding back to her. "Ella, why did you run?" he asked slightly confused and looking up into Ella's dark brown eyes.

"I…" Ella's mouth opened but no words came out for a moment as she struggled with what to say.

"I was embarrassed at first," Ella admitted finally.

"But what about just now?" Al questioned wanting to know her thoughts.

Ella took a deep breath before saying why, "I guess it was because I already know what you are going to say and I don't really want to hear it."

For a moment Al was silent as he wrapped the bandaging around Ella's ankle a few more times but then he couldn't help but ask, "Ella, what exactly did you think I was going to say?"

Ella mumbled back her response so quietly that no one could have picked it up.

"Umm, I couldn't tell what you just said," Al said apologetic.

"You were going to break up with me," Ella said as she looked down at her lap and away from Al as tears began to form once again in her eyes.

"And where would you get an idea like that?" Al asked worried about how Ella was feeling but also a little amused that she had drawn the same conclusion that he had earlier.

Ella looked up surprised, "I rushed you," she said confused that Al was smiling at her looking a little amused.

"Ella," Al said still smiling as he finished wrapping her ankle and taking a seat on top of the desk right next to her so as they were at the same level now, "You haven't rushed me one bit, plus I've wanted to…" Al struggled with the word kiss but made enough moment with his hands as that Ella understood what he was trying to say without him saying it, "since I started going out with you."

"Really?" Ella asked smiling once again and making Al's heart in turn warm up considerably relieved that she was fine once again.

"Really," Al said smiling not being able to help it.

For a moment both were silent not sure what to do next that is until Al voiced his thoughts. "What now?" he asked as he stood up. "I mean I think that most couples just go with the moment and don't talk about it before hand I mean-"

"Al" Ella said cutting off whatever the hell Al had been rambling about and reaching out to take his hand in her own.

"Yeah?" Al asked as he turned back around only to lean far forward to Ella because she had tugged hard on his hand.

In a matter of milliseconds a pair of soft lips had captured his.

Al's first reaction would have been to pull back in pure surprise, but as a voice in the back of his head seemed to tell him it was what he wanted, instead he leaned farther in pressing his lips back against Ella's in response.

The hand that Ella had taken in her own, began to play slightly with her fingertips, while Al's other hand snaked its way around Ella's head holding the back of her neck as Al deepened the kiss.

The kiss only ended when Al felt something soft and slightly wet on his leg and he pulled back in response, only to find the puppy that was living in the student council room was licking his ankle. Ella couldn't help but laugh.

After lunch when everyone came in the Student Council room, it was apparent to them that something had happened in Al and Ella's relationship as they both were completely flushed and every few seconds had to look at each other only causing their blushes to darken whenever their eyes met.

Winry would have harassed Ella until she had told her all the details on what had occurred except when she started to run to the girl, Riza put her hand on Winry's shoulder effectively stopping her and then with a shake of the head she convinced her to wait until after school to start questioning Ella.

The moment Fuery came into the student council room, the little puppy bounded right up to him and he scooped it into his arms sighing that he was still having trouble finding a home for it.

At lunch he had almost asked Hughes if he could take the puppy but everyone had stopped him before he did because they didn't want Maes to have something else to always be going on about. They already heard enough chatter from him, between his girlfriend, Gracia, and his little sister.

Then he had started to offer the puppy to Gracia knowing that of all the people who could take it, she definitely would treat it well.

But then it was pointed out to him that giving it to Gracia was almost the equivalent to giving it to Maes. After all, Hughes seemed to spend as much time as he could with his girlfriend.

This meant that only Sheska and Mustang were left as options for the puppy's new home.



At that moment, Roy came bursting though the Student council doors and upon seeing Fuery with the little pup in his hands marched right up to him and scooped up the canine saying, "Dog, huh?"

Fuery not sure if Mustang was exactly happy didn't say anything

Then Mustang broke into a wide smile and got really excited and animated yelling, "I love dogs!"

Fuery was thrilled to hear such wonderful news, "Really! You mean it!"

Roy turned to him still very animated and said, "Of course!" One could almost say that Mustang's eyes flashed with excitement as he continued. "Dogs embody loyalty, the follow their master's commands above all else."

Mustang then turned back to the puppy that he was holding out in front of him and shook it slightly up and down. He exclaimed, "Be a jerk to them and they don't complain, and they never once demand that I work."

Still waving his arms around even though the puppy was in one of his hands, he cried out "Trust me Fuery, there're the great servants of man! Loyal Canine how we salute thee." and then he began to laugh as Fuery looked completely horrified for the millionth time that day.

"Mustang, shouldn't you be getting your paperwork done?" Riza inquired smoothly slipping the puppy out of his hands and back into Fuery's once again and much to his relief.

"Don't worry about it," he said flashing his trademark smile at her.

However Riza was not amused as she knew if he didn't finish it that she would get stuck doing it. "Just get your work done," she snapped at him as she went back to sit in her desk.

No one was exactly sure what to do after that; after all, Riza may have been one to get annoyed at times but most of the time she was just silent about it.

Mustang looked slightly confused at her behavior, he almost felt a little guilty. In silence he walked over to his desk and got to work.

Everyone else just decided to follow his lead.

Ella noticed immediately when there was an empty desk right in front of her and tossed a note over to Al asking where Sheska was.



He sent it back right away telling her that Sheska must have stayed in the library for lunch or something and was just late for class apparently.

Later in the period a very flustered Sheska came in interrupting everyone from their work. Apparently she had been in the library during lunch and had found a million books that she wanted to read and had checked out just a few too many and now was juggling them to try and keep them in her arms but failing miserably at it.

Within seconds of her opening the door to come in, she dropped about five books. No one had been able to get to her in time to help, so the books just fell to the floor.

Some of them began to get up to help her pick up the books, but the first to get there was the new puppy who defiantly was not going to help. Seeing an opportunity to play the dog ran over and took one of the pages in Sheska's book in its mouth and ran, it was no wonder that it just ripped out of the book.

Sheska, obviously, freaked out. She didn't seem too mad at the puppy but all the same, Fuery knew better than to ask her to take it.

After the period was over, most of the seniors got up to leave because they didn't have a last period class. Fuery didn't know quite what to do, on one hand he couldn't leave the dog in the classroom overnight, someone would be bound to notice him, but there was no way that he could take him home with him either.

Then Riza spoke up, "Well if you have no other candidates, I guess I can handle him Cain." She said reluctantly.

"Really, that's awesome," Fuery said hoping that this time it might work out.

Just then the puppy barked twice and ran over to the wall on the other side of the room. Everyone watched curiously as it lifted a leg and went to it.

Fuery smiled although a little embarrassed for the dog and apologized saying, "Sorry, I guess he's just relived to have an owner."

With one click of her gun, before the puppy had even finished, Riza fired six shots around it scaring the poor thing half to death.

"Now you won't be doing anything like that again will you pup," Riza started as everyone stared in horror at her for once. "See you've got a strict Mommy now. Bathrooms out here," she said pointing outside. "Got it Black Hayate."

Fuery couldn't help but exclaim "What's wrong with all you people," before walking unbelievingly out of the room to go home.

Riza on the other hand sat right back down in her desk and went back to work.

Roy looked surprisingly at her from his own desk, he figured that she would have gone home, after all he did know for certain that she didn't have a last period.

Feeling his gaze on her, Riza looked up and asked, "What?" slightly annoyed at getting interrupted from all the work she had left to do.

"Just wondering why you're still here, I know you don't have a last period," Mustang answered back still gazing at her curiously.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable under his strong stare, Riza answered back still slightly annoyed, "Well I could ask you the same."

"I have alchemy practice after school. What's your excuse?" Roy said raising one eyebrow questioningly.

"I have work to finish," Riza said turning her head back to her paperwork.

"Oh," Roy said sounding slightly disappointed, not exactly sure what he was disappointed about though. "Well then in that case I'm going to head over to the gyms to practice a little," he continued while getting up and walking over to the door, but once there he had to say just one more thing before he left.

"I'll see you later Hawkeye," he said unsure of the last word. However much he felt like calling her Riza, he just couldn't bring himself to do it because it would probably upset her.

And with that, he walked out the door, and once he was gone Riza responded softly, "See you later… Roy."

* * *

Wow so that whole ending stuff I totally just added on a whim, I mean no plans at all for any RoyxRiza in this chapter and then BAM! It just happened.

Hope you all enjoyed especially all the EllaxAl stuff. So they finally made the leap and kissed. How very cute.

Also sorry for the late update, I had this chapter finished by the time I wanted to update it but my sister went out of town and thus I had no one to edit it.

FFG- Jo


	33. Chapter 33 Cheek

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Sorry for the late update, I know I told all you guys I had hoped to update a lot sooner, but dance completely took over my life. Also make sure you read my author's note at the end.

**Chapter 33**

The Alchemy team had precisely two weeks until their next Alchemy competition, and after Ed almost lost his match, Izumi wasn't going to let them slack off.

Every morning before school there was practice, then any spare moment during the day they were outside or in the gym training, and after that they still had their normal sessions after school.

Winry was suddenly finding herself hanging out with Ella, Riza, and the others, more and with the Elrics a lot less.

Because they went to school early, she now was walking alone or maybe with Ella every once in a while when her mother had to take her to school early and would just drop her off at Winry's house early instead.

Then at any time during the day that Winry had a spare moment, she would always find Ed practicing.

After school she and Ella tended to wait until after alchemy practice for the boys so that they could all walk home together. Most of the time they were joined by Riza who's Dad had refused to get her a car and had instead arranged for her to get a ride with Roy, much to her annoyance.

It was during these times though that Winry did have to admit to herself that she enjoyed watching Ed do something that he loved so much. To anyone else it may have looked like he was just focused as he would spar with his brother but Winry was always able to see the sort of gleam in Ed's eyes as he enjoyed every moment of it. He almost seemed disappointed whenever practice ended.

The only thing that really bothered her was that she felt as she was useless to Ed at the moment. She felt as if there should be something that she should do to help him train or something, but nothing came to mind for her to do.

Finally, the day before the competition, Winry couldn't keep it to herself any longer.

"Ella?" Winry asked as they walked to school alone, because the boys had left for practice long before them.

"Yeah?" Ella said back as she smiled up at her friend.

"How do you do it?" Winry said throwing her arms up in frustration.

"How do I do what?" Ella asked wondering what was up with Winry; after all, she had been acting quieter than normal the last few days.

"How can you stay so calm and just…" Winry paused trying to put together her exact thoughts, "Don't you feel like you should be helping Al somehow?"

Ella only smiled wider at Winry's thoughts and looked up at the clear sky and responded back. "I did feel a little useless to him in all honestly… but the other day when he came out of practice and kissed me, I realized that by supporting him I was doing everything that I was needed for."

"Don't you want to do more?" Winry asked feeling like that wasn't enough.

"Well of course I do," Ella said smiling, "but Al will tell me if he needs anything else."

With that, Winry began to think of something that she could do for Ed, after all she already supported him 100 and he knew it as well, and there was no way that he would ever ask her for help if he could help it. She sighed still frustrated with the fact that there was nothing she could do to help him.

"And then of course, I will always wish Al the best of luck before he competes." Ella added as an afterthought.

_Luck. _Winry blushed at the thought of what she had been so bold to do at the hospital months ago. _Maybe I could, no I shouldn't do that! _Winry couldn't help but argue with herself as she had an idea on what she could do for Ed.

As the day passed Ella, most of the others, and even Ed as busy as he was, noticed how quiet Winry was being as she continued to think very hard on something. When she split from the group after school, to go home, Ed couldn't help but say something after waving his brother and Ella to go ahead.

"Winry is something wrong," he asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

Winry didn't respond as she crinkled her eyebrows in deep thought still.

"Winry!" Ed shouted as he clapped once loudly in her face waking her from her deep thought.

Her head snapped up and she said "What?" not realizing that Ed had been talking to her.

"Geez Winry, you got anything on your mind?" Ed asked laughing slightly at Winry's surprised face.

For a moment Winry was silent not sure exactly how to respond. Finally she smiled and said cheerfully, "don't worry about it Ed." And then before he could say another word she said, "I'll see you tomorrow," and ran off toward her home leaving behind a very confused Ed.

Normally Ed might have worried about Winry's weird behavior that day, and lately he had been noticing her strange behavior in silence, but the next day was big for the alchemy team and Ed knew better than to jeopardize the team's chances of getting to the national championship again with his worrying.

Therefore all thoughts concerning Winry were pushed to the back of his mind as he fell asleep that night concentrating purely on what would occur the next day.

The day of the Alchemy competition, Friday, Ed and Al were at school what seemed like hours before Winry. She and Ella walked to school together and Ella couldn't help but notice that Winry seemed to be feeling better then she had lately, but she didn't comment on it not wanting to upset her friend.

By the time they got to school, the whole student council room was going crazy. Everyone was rushing around trying to make the last minute arrangements for the alchemy team competition.

Both Ella and Winry joined the craziness the moment they came through the door.

The only thing really missing from the student council room was the alchemy team members, they had all gotten permission from the principal to be excused from their work and classes that day in order to get some last minute training in before the competition.

This was the case with all of their competitions against the other schools. Too soon the school day started and there would only be a few hours before the competition.

Winry found herself sitting in class staring at an empty desk in every period that Ed was normally in with her. She felt like butterflies were dancing around in her stomach due to anticipation of this competition. She knew that Ed and the others would do just fine, but she couldn't help but get nervous because the chance of someone getting hurt was always high.

Finally it was the last class of the day, and all teachers might as well have given up teaching anything because of the buzz around the school about the alchemy competition. This one was a home match so it was going to occur in the gym just an hour or so after school.

Winry knew for a fact that the student council members who had an off period for their last class were setting up for the competition. She wished that she could be helping them just to be up and moving and doing something with her hands. Although even in her mechanics class she had barely been able to concentrate on what she was doing.

When the last bell of the day rang, it was comparable to the last day of school when they were released for summer. In one mass stampede the students all ran out the door to the classroom to head to the gym as quickly as possible to get the better seats.

Being a member of the student council meant that Winry already had a seat saved for her in the gym so she didn't run out the door; however she still couldn't keep her feet from walking a little faster than normal.

It was no surprise to her that down the hallway, was Ella trying to keep from falling but getting pushed around quite a bit as everyone crowed their way to the gym. Winry couldn't help but smile at how every time Ella bumped into someone she would try to apologize to them but as it was just chaos she had to make apologies every two seconds and most of the time it wasn't her fault.

Shaking her head, Winry made her way through everyone to get to Ella. The girl smiled at a familiar face by her side as they continued to try to get to the gym.

Once there, all anyone could see was mass chaos just like in the hallway between everyone trying to get good seats, people trying to find their friends to sit with, and people fighting to save seats for their friends.

As they walked over to the seats that were saved for them, Winry couldn't help but turn to Ella and ask, "Hey are you going to go see Al before the competition starts?"

Ella was a little surprised but at the same time and was pretty sure what Winry really wanted to know. "Yeah," she answered back coolly "Do you want to come with me?"

Winry was startled slightly at Ella's question, but since that was what she wanted she decided to go ahead and take advantage of the situation. "Yeah, that would be great," she said smiling at Ella.

"Okay, let's go right now," Ella said starting to run back out of the gym toward the boy's locker room.

Winry was somewhat confused by Ella's sudden excitement and was shaking her head at the time they had just wasted getting into the gym when they just left right away to see the guys. She laughed at Ella as she trotted to catch up to her.

When they got to the door to the boy's dressing room, Ella stopped running to catch her breath as Winry began to knock on the door, but just as she started, the door came flying open, and standing there was Armstrong.

Upon seeing the two girls, Armstrong boomed, "It's the ever lovely Winry Rockbell who's love for Edward is incomparable." Winry almost choked on nothing as Armstrong continued, "and the beautiful miss Ella Mathews whose love for Alphonse is also incomparable and also has an amazing drawing ability that can almost compare to the artistry that has been passed down generation after generation of the Armstrongs!"

Both girls were silent not exactly sure how to answer that. Arguing with Armstrong wasn't the easiest task in the world.

"Armstrong, who are you bothering this time," Ed called out from back in the locker room.

Just at that moment Roy walked up from behind Armstrong and smirked at the two girls before turning back from where he came from and yelled back to Ed and Al, "It's your girlfriends!"

Winry was slightly annoyed with that. It was one thing for Armstrong to make a mistake on matters such as this one, after all he was Armstrong. He always made comments like that, but Roy was another matter. All of his remarks weren't made on accident and he made sure that everyone knew that with that smirk.

Ella knowing that Winry was probably not too happy about Mustangs remarks decided what was best for the moment was to just ignore them and go see Al. She ran into the locker room.

Seeing that her friend had just deserted her, Winry simply glared at Mustang figuring that would have to do for the moment, before following Ella.

Armstrong and Mustang looked at one another and walked out figuring that they might as well go and meet the competition.

In the locker room, the first person for Ella to bump into, literally, was Ed. She of course fell back on to her butt because of the impact.

"You know Ella, it helps to watch where you are going when you're running," Ed said while chuckling to himself a little.

Ella immediately protested this remark, "I was watching where I was going Ed, I just—"

Ed put out a hand to help her up and interrupted her saying, "Ella, I was just messing with you."

Ella grinned at Ed while he helped her up, and then proceeded to run over to where Al was.

"You like to mess with her, don't you?" Winry said to Ed as she walked up to him in the locker room.

Ed turned to Winry grinning at her, "She can get a little gullible at times and it's fun to tease her."

Winry looked over to where Al and Ella were standing together. It appeared that Ella was telling Al something private as she was whispering it in his ear. Little did she know that Ella just happened to be telling Al about her hopes for Winry and Ed.

"Hey what are you doing back here anyway?" Ed suddenly asked getting curious.

For a slight second, Winry was flustered as she didn't exactly know how to answer Ed's question. Finally she just said, "Ella came back to see Al and I just tagged along."

"Oh," Ed said a little disappointed as he turned his head away from Winry, "Well you two should probably get back to the gym, you wouldn't want to miss any of the competition."

Winry could tell Ed was a little annoyed, but for her life she didn't have a clue why. Peaking over at Al and Ella she could tell that they were wrapping up their conversation and that she should just get to the point with Ed. She took a deep breath and dove in.

"Ed, do you remember when you were at the hospital earlier this year?" Winry asked carefully.

"When I got my automail?" Ed asked looking at Winry and thinking back on that moment and lifting his hand to his cheek as he blushed lightly remembering what occurred that day.

"Well," Winry peered over at Ella and Al again and was surprised to find them starting to walk toward her and Ed. Now it seemed like those two were going to see what she had planned, but there wasn't anything that she could really do about it.

Quick as a flash, Winry put her hands behind her back and then pecked Ed on the cheek where his hand wasn't.

Ed froze the moment that her lips graced his cheek and he went even pinker when she pulled away and he couldn't help but look at her incredulously.

Winry bit her lips, under his heavy gaze, just sure that she must have done something wrong. She felt like a little child who had broken all the rules.

Then, Ed's gaze softened as he looked at Winry. The fact that she was biting her lips only made his eyes shift to look at them. Oh what he wanted to do in that moment, it was almost unbearable to keep away from her.

They only broke away from one another's gaze when Al and Ella came up right next to them and Ella sneezed, causing everyone to look at her.

"Sorry," she said meekly.

Al just smiled and kissed her on the forehead before saying, "bless you."

After that, Ed and Winry looked back at one another at exactly the same time making them both go a little pink. They both struggled with words.

"Well, good luck," Winry finally spit out wishing she could have said something a little more eloquent.

"Thanks," Ed said feeling slightly stupid not really knowing what to answer to 'good luck'.

Still not knowing what to say, Winry just decided to do what she wanted to do. She quickly kissed Ed's other cheek making him go very red, and before another word could be said she ran out of the locker room yelling "Come on Ella, we have to get to our seats if we want to watch the competition."

Ella smiled as she looked at first her boyfriend and then a still very red Ed. Then she ran after Winry, turning back to give Al a thumbs up sign and ended up almost tripping over her own feet.

* * *

Okay, right now all of you guys are probably wondering why I was so late in updating, or you don't really care. Well dance kind of took over my life this last week and I had pretty much zero time to write and every time I could write I got writers block. Sucked…yes.

Anyway, I actually finished this chapter in Arkansas. Kind of confusing why. But I got my sis to edit it in Arkansas and I actually uploaded it in Florida where my nationals dance competition is.

Also don't expect an update for a couple weeks. Sorry but because of nationals I can't write and also I have a million books to read so don't expect anything for a while, sorry.

FFG- Jo


	34. Chapter 34 Scar

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Hehehe, I'm back. I had a few nice weeks off, although i didn't get any of my reading done, oh well.

**Chapter 34**

Ed walked out of the locker room in a sort of daze at what had just occurred. Al followed him and couldn't help but grin at his brother being so stunned, although he hoped that he might snap out of it soon, after all, they were about to start the Alchemy competition.

The brothers walked into the gym and met up with Roy and Armstrong who had just been getting some insightful information on the competition.

"What's up with him?" Roy asked Al, when the brothers walked up, noticing that Ed didn't seem to be really with it. But before Al could even answer his question, he yelled in Ed's ear, "Hey, think about your girlfriend later, concentrate on this now!"

That woke Ed up with a start as he immediately retaliated, "Winry's not my girlfriend."

"Funny how I never mentioned her in particular," Roy said smirking at Ed.

Ed fumed slightly, but decided to keep his mouth shut before he said anything else the bastard could use against him.

"So Maes checked out the competition for us, and they are good but nothing we haven't handled before," he continued getting back to the subject on hand.

"The girl's name is Marta," Roy said pointing to the one girl of their competition, "she seems like she'll be pretty easy to handle although she looks quick on her feet. The big guy's name is Law, obviously he's strong. Anyone can see that just looking at him."

They all looked up at the guy noticing how tall and muscular he was. He almost reminded Ed of a shaggier version of Armstrong.

"The shortest guy, the one with the sword, name is Dorochet, besides the sword that he apparently uses in battle, there isn't anything else about him," Roy said disappointingly.

"What about the last guy, the one with the scar?" Ed prompted Mustang.

"This guy really got on Hughes nerves," Mustang admitted chuckling slightly. "No one seems to have any information on him at all. He doesn't even seem to talk to his team really, and you can't even tell how in shape he is because of what he's wearing."

Ed looked over and noticed for the first time that while Marta, Law, and Dorochet were all talking together, the last guy almost looked as if he was zoning.

"Hughes couldn't even find out the guy's name," Mustang said shaking his head. "Apparently he just goes by Scar because of that scar on his face."

Right then, Scar's head whipped around to look Ed straight in the eyes, which had never left him. Ed refused to look away or even be intimidated by this guy no matter how scary he seemed with his red eyes that felt like they were burrowing down into his soul.

He shook of the urge to shiver suddenly. "Come on Ed, they're starting the match ups," Al said causing Ed to finally look away from the scarred man.

They hurried over with Mustang and Armstrong to find out just who each of them would be paired up with to fight. This happened before every Alchemy competition. Each member from their team would be randomly paired up against one of the other team's members. Then whichever team got the most wins won the competition, although there were certain procedures followed in case of there being a tie due to even numbers.

After each battle, it was announced by a judge if the win was considered small or large and in some circumstances it could be called average but that rarely happened. If the margin of victory was tiny, then it would be called small by the judge, while if one of the members creamed the other, then it would be called large.

Judges had to be unbiased and their decisions were unarguable in all cases. Their decisions were based on how much damage was done to each participant in the fight as well as how much time was taken for a win to be proclaimed. Also, anything that could be considered out of line, could affect the margin of victory.

In most cases, the judge wasn't personally known by the team members.

"Alright," the judge said getting everyone's attention in the gym, soon silence came over the overflowing stands as everyone stared at the judge in anticipation. "We will now match the contestants up and begin the battles."

With that said the crowd went up in screams. It was finally going to begin.

"I want good clean fights from all of you," the judge said looking each of the team members in the eye, "If you break any of the rules, I will take that into consideration when judgeing."

They all nodded, bored, after all almost all judges gave their little speech of 'don't hurt anyone too bad' before the competition. By now they had heard it way too many times.

"Okay," he took off his hat and pulled from his pocket a piece of paper that everyone put their names on before he tore it apart to pair them up.

Ella saw from her seat next to Winry and asked confused "what's happening down there, what is he doing with that hat?" Since she had missed the first match of this year, and had never been to something like this before, Winry understood how she didn't know the exact procedure things were done and giggled at Ella's cluelessness.

"Well you see, they have to match everyone up randomly, so they draw names out of a hat," Winry said smiling at Ella.

"But… doesn't that seem a little unprofessional?" Ella asked surprised that they would be using such a method for chance.

Winry just shrugged and explained, "They used to do it though a computer, but after a few teams tried to cheat by hacking into the system, they figured drawing names out of a hat at the competition would just be easier, plus that way the judge is the actual person drawing the names so they don't have to count on anyone else's word."

"But what if Ed and Al's names were drawn together, they're on the same team," Ella asked.

Winry just laughed, "Well, they wouldn't make them fight each other if that's what you're asking. They'd just put them back in the hat and redraw."

"Oh," Ella just said, understanding but still finding it a little strange.

Finally the judge had drawn all the names and he announced to everyone who would be fighting who.

"First up we have Armstrong v. Law, then Alphonse v. Marta, next Mustang v. Dorochet, and finally Edward v. Scar!" the judge announced in a booming voice. After each set had been announced the audience erupted in to screams of cheering, and shouts rooting for their favorite team.

As Armstrong and Law took the gym floor, everyone else on the teams walked to their seats to watch and cheer, as the judge sat at the head of the floor along with the other officials ready to step in if anything was taken too far.

The match was interesting being that both members main skill was their strength. However, even though Law had a large hammer, he was soon knocked out by Armstrong, with his brass knuckles. "Small," the judge announced as Law was helped off the floor by his teammates and Armstrong stumbled off, slightly dazed because of a few hits to the head he had received from Law.

However, the two looked over at each other and a certain respect could be seen as they nodded impressed by one another's great strength.

Next Al and Marta came out on the floor and their match began.

Maes had been correct when he said Marta was supposed to be fast. She could almost be described as slippery, simply sliding out of any armor's arms that Al had coordinated to trap her. Ed could tell his brother was slightly annoyed that she was evading his attacks so easily, in the end though, he did catch her. He managed to trap her in one of his suits, and before she could slip out of the armor, he sealed off all the exits.

It had taken a while, but all the same Al hadn't even gotten a scratch on him, he was just a little sweaty from running around. "large," the judge announced as the audience went up in cheers for Al. He was the newest member to the team and yet already he had received a large win.

Slightly embarrassed but pleased with himself, Al let Marta out of the suit of armor before shaking hands with her. She grinned at him and said, "You're good for your age," before walking away to watch the rest of the matches.

Meanwhile, Roy and Dorochet made their way out on to the gym floor. Both knew that this was the battle that could win the competition. Roy smirked at his competition, while Dorochet remained completely serious, although he did have a look in his eyes that made it seem like he was excited to get started.

Of all the fights that occurred so far, this one without a doubt was the shortest. Ed couldn't even be sure if it had lasted ten minutes. From the beginning Dorochet didn't stand a chance.

Roy started out the match snapping at Dorochet, who actually managed to dodge a few of his flames due to his speed. Within minutes though, he was exhausted from constant moving, but kept at it anyway since Mustang almost looked bored with nothing to do but move his arm, aim, and snap.

Soon, Mustang was able to catch him, and sent sparks at his sword rather than at Dorochet for once. Any part of the sword that was metal immediately became red hot, while the handle burst into flames burning Dorochet's hands and making him drop his now broken weapon.

In milliseconds, Mustang had his hand in front of Dorochet's face ready to snap. "Give it up, I would rather not have to burn any more of you if I don't have to." Roy said slightly smirking at his competition.

"I guess I have no real choice," he replied smirking back impressed with Mustang's strength.

"By forfit, Mustang wins." The judge said before finishing with, "Large."

The audience went up in cheers as it was made definite which side had won. Roy and Dorochet shook hands before returning back to their seats to watch the last match at ease.

Even though it was already certain which side had won, it still was common courtesy to let the last two members of the teams go through with their battle. The loosing team could forfeit the match if they desired to do so, but before they were even asked by the judge if they wanted to give up; Scar was already out on the floor ready to begin.

Ed went and joined him ready for the fight to start even if it didn't really count toward anything.

For a moment after they were allowed to attack, neither of them did so, and instead just faced off waiting on the other. The tension between the two seemed to fill the entire gym.

Without warning Scar ran at Ed to attack. Ed didn't know what the guy was planning and just went with his instinct, he clapped his hands together and quickly transmuted his arm into a blade as well. He could already hear Winry yelling at him for doing something like that, but at the moment was too into the fight to really care.

Before he could strike or even swing at Scar though, the guy grabbed his transmuted arm and tried to slam his other hand into Ed's head, but Edward reacted quickly seeing what Scar was doing and ducked down barely feeling Scar's hand brush past on top of his head, and then he quickly followed up by leaping back and away from his competition.

Before Scar could completely recover from missing Ed though, he jumped back into the battle swinging his transmuted blade arm back at Scar, who managed to dodge the first swing and then caught Ed's metal arm in his own.

Ed managed to take advantage of the situation and pressed forward slightly as he pulled back his arm, thus cutting the palm of Scar's hand. He winced slightly but just let his hand fall to his side as blood began to flow from it, as he looked completely unfazed.

_Damn this guy has nerves of steel, _Ed thought as he planned his next attack. He ran in quickly and once again started swinging his blade arm at Scar, who ducked and dodged accordingly before finally going down on one knee and grabbing Ed's arm underneath.

Ed was surprised at the guy's ability to act so quickly, but as he felt something strange in his arm he became even more astonished. Before Scar could finish his act, Ed pulled away sharply falling back on to his butt as his eyes widened at the man he was up against. At least he had finally gotten a peek at the guy's arms and had realized how he was doing these transmutations.

A quick look at his automail confirmed his fears. It had cracks in it, almost as if it were starting to crumble though it hadn't yet, and not enough damage had been done for it to be too much affected, but all the same Ed was still surprised and slightly taken aback by what had just occurred.

"You were going to blow up my automail," he accused realizing that the tattoo on Scar's arm was what he was using to do alchemy.

"All's fair in War," is all that Scar had to say for himself before he ran at Ed once again trying to grab his head in his hand.

"Will you quit that, it's getting kind of annoying," Ed said after rolling out of Scar's way to keep the guy from touching him.

Scar didn't say a word as he quickly changed direction to attack Ed again. For a few moments, the two just sparred off in punches and blocks. Ed felt like Scar's hurt hand should have slowed him down or something, but it seemed to have no outward affect on the guy.

When they both leaped back in dodging, they were breathing hard, had several scrapes and bruises, and Ed knew if he didn't finish the fight soon, this guy was going to blow up his arm, he had seen him eyeing it and knew that was the guy's plan. So far he had been able to keep his arm from making too much contact but sooner or later Scar was going to catch his arm and destroy it now that he knew what it was made of.

_Wait, that's it!_ Ed clapped once causing his automail to shimmer but nothing else before charging in once again at Scar.

Within moments Scar had caught Ed's arm once again but this time as he tried to transmute, his eyes went wide with confusion, and before he could properly react, Ed elbowed him in the face. Ed didn't give him a chance to recover from that before swinging around his leg to kick the guy in the face.

Scar easily caught the leg surprised to find that it was automail as well. But once again as he tried to transmute the leg, Ed clapped and touched his own leg doing some sort of transmutation that affected Scar's ability to do anything to his automail leg.

Before Ed could do anything else, Scar slipped back and demanded, "What is this!?"

"You don't get what's going on?" Ed said starring at Scar almost in disbelief. "You're not much of an alchemist are you?" Scar only cringed at those words but stayed silent as Ed continued. "Alchemy is understanding a composition, breaking it down, then remaking it as something else. You've been instinctively figuring out your enemy's design, then adjusting that arm's alchemy to destroy them, but if you don't know what that substance is then you can't break it down. So I've been transmuting my automail into other metals to keep you guessing."

"Now I understand," Scar said jumping back into the fight.

_But I can't keep doing this forever, because these other metals have some different physical properties and it's screwing up the entire design. So I'm going to have to make this quick! _

Ed quickly dodged Scar's attacks once again, before advancing with his own attack. Once again, they struggled each other punching, swinging, blocking, and dodging blows.

Scar once even landed a small blow to Ed's forehead and did some sort of transmutation, although Ed pulled away before he finished. For a moment Ed forgot to breathe…literally. "What the hell was that!" he demanded as he gasped for air.

"My Alchmey," Scar said almost smirking at Ed. "I shut down part of your brain that controls you're breathing and before you know it, you're unconscious from lack of air."

"Wow both simple and useful," Ed said sarcastically even though now that he knew what Scar was trying to he couldn't help but be impressed with the guy.

Once again they went back to fighting and dodging, landing very few blows on each other but still becoming slower as they tired of keeping this up.

Finally, after Ed had just swung his blade arm at Scar causing him in turn to back up to dodge, he quickly clapped and dropped to the floor making a small wall only a few inches in height grow from the ground and trip Scar, who fell back. Before he could react, Ed already had his blade back at his neck breathing hard but trapping him.

With that everyone knew the match was over. No one could even hear the judge announcing Ed's 'small' win, as they screamed cheering for Ed and Scar and the awesome match that had just taken place in front of them.

Ed lent Scar a hand to help him up before they went their separate ways.

"Edward Elric!" a yell was heard from the stands as Winry ran down to meet him. Before she got to him though, something hard came into contact with his head.

"Damn it Winry! Will you stop throwing that wrench at my head, I swear I'm going to die one of these days from that thing!" Ed shouted.

A second later, Winry was up in his face shouting back at him, "I'll stop hurting you when you stop messing up my automail. First you transmute it to a different form, then you change the metals it's made up of, and then you even go as far as to let it get damaged like this," she said as she grabbed his arm and surveyed the damage Scar had done to it before glaring at Ed.

"Hey don't look at me, he was the one who messed it up," Ed said pointedly.

Winry just stalked off annoyed at Ed for letting anything happen to his automail.

"Hey wait up Winry!" he called after her, trying to go after her.

_I swear I should just start making Ed new automail before he even needs it. _Winry thought as she walked away trying to ignore Ed's protests but still not being able to keep a completely straight face at his antics.

* * *

Okay, first off, I AM BACK. Did you guys miss me? You don't really have to answer that. Anyways, thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. I loved all the constructive criticism. Don't worry about me getting offended, I know you guys just want to help me. I'll try to keep in mind all the stuff you said.

Also, Marta and Law's names on Wikipedia are Martel and Loa, but when I looked them up in the booklet thing that came with the DVDs, this was the way they spelled it so I decided to stick with that spelling. Just explaining.

So for once I'm almost proud of something I wrote, I loved the idea of the new alchemy I gave Scar because let's face it, blowing up people's heads isn't exactly useful when you are trying to still keep them alive. Am I right?

I may be back but just a warning if I'm not updating as fast as I do during the year, that's probably because I still do stuff in the summer. Sure I'm not dancing as much, but I do have a ton of other book stuff I'm working on and it sometimes keeps me from writing as much on here. Sorry about that, although now I should be doing much better on updating.

Okay we still got quite a few more chapters to go. Keep writing you guys.

FFG- Jo


	35. Chapter 35 New Automail

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

Random note: You know you are cool when you can make a poncho look badass. (referring to Scar)

**Chapter 35**

Something about the idea of starting a new automail arm for Ed had Winry thinking. She was breezing though all of her classes, besides alchemy, and was almost to the point of boredom in her Mechanics class.

She couldn't help it if she already knew pretty much all the stuff they were learning in there. So when Mr. Dominic assigned everyone in the class to make something new, Winry already knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Once she had flown the idea past Dominic, she started on the new arm and leg for Ed.

At first she was afraid that he might notice what she was working on, but due to their distance apart in that class and how much Ed didn't pay attention in there, she soon had no fear of Ed finding out what she was doing until she gave it to him.

She had originally planned to give it to Ed as a gift for his next Alchemy competition, but that was only a week away and there was no possible way to finish it in time for that.

The week after the alchemy competition against Scar's school, went by fast. Of course Winry fixed Ed's arm that weekend only having to replace one of the plates on it, but all the same he walked away from her apartment that day with a few "minimal" injuries courtesy of her wrench.

Winry couldn't help but feel like something was different between her and Ed. Maybe that kiss had managed to knock some sense into Ed, and had shown that she liked him as more than just a friend. She could only hope.

Although what she really wanted was for him to like her that way as well, and as the next week passed she began to think that could be possible.

During that time, Ed seemed to pay more attention to her and constantly be at her side, actually surprising her a few times and making her jump. Naturally he teased her about it, but she just laughed along with him happy that things were so comfortable between them.

When the next alchemy competition came up, once again Winry went to go wish Ed luck, and kissed him on the cheek again before leaving. After that, it became habit for them to go though that before every alchemy competition.

Once Winry did forget to kiss his cheek and as she started to walk away Ed grabbed her hand and yanked her back towards him.

"What!?" she had exclaimed confused at Ed's actions.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked politely smirking slightly at her.

For a second, Winry had only looked confused, and Ed's grin started to fade thinking that maybe she didn't like him quite like he had thought she did. But at that moment, Winry suddenly jumped remembering what she had forgotten.

Before Ed could say another word she had gone on to plant a kiss on each of his cheeks. "Maybe that will make up for me forgetting," she had explained timidly afterwards.

Ed never did so well in a competition. No one was quite sure what the deal was, but no one complained about it.

When it came to all the alchemy competitions, they always won. The first two had been the biggest challenges and even those had been won. Of course this had come as no surprise to them really, after all every year seemed to be this way. All the competition was easily beaten until they came up against the one school who ever posed a threat to them.

Ouroboros high school. This was their rival school, and it always came down between them for who won the School Alchemy Champion.

Ever since Roy and Armstrong had made the Alchemy team, they had been able to hold on to the title, although just barely. Rumors were spreading though about Ouroboros's new team this year and how they simply swept the floor at every Alchemy competition they were in.

All the same, their team stayed positive as Izumi drilled them more and more as the final competition against Ouroboros came up.

Even Ed wasn't getting teased as much for not asking out Winry yet. After all, everyone already knew the reason why not. No time. Even if he asked her out, it wasn't like they would get to spend any more time together.

Even when spending every spare moment with Winry, she still barely got to see him outside of class. Normally that might have bothered her more, but as the final competition was approaching fast, she was having to spend more and more time on Ed's new automail in order to have it finished.

"Why are you working so hard on that?" Paninya asked one day in class curious about Winry's almost obsessiveness with her new creation.

Winry wiped off her forehead and kept working as she answered, "Well, promise not to tell Ed, but I'm making him some new automail limbs for the last alchemy competition."

"But isn't that just a week away?" Paninya asked.

"Yep," Winry said while tightening a screw on the arm.

"No way you can finish by then," Paninya said in disbelief.

Winry flashed her friend a smile, "I actually plan to be done in just a few days."

"Impossible," Paninya said matter-o-factly.

"Well, I need to let him get used to the limbs for a few days before the competition," Winry said ignoring Paninya's pessimism.

"Good luck with that," Paninya said as she patted Winry on the back, "You're gonna need it."

Winry sighed as she took a small peek back at Ed who appeared to be asleep, his head down on the desk. She shook her head in disbelief, _the things I do for you Edward Elric._

Paninya was right about one thing, she had a lot of work to do in a little amount of time. Still, it was beginning to look like she was going to have to stay up late finished it.

Just as predicted, she did end up staying up late the next two nights, and the next night, she pulled an all nighter managing to finally finish the arm and leg at about five in the morning, only to be woken up a couple hours later to go to school.

The only good thing that day was going to be giving the automail to Ed. Everything else was going to just suck, and Winry knew it.

"Ed!" she shouted when she came in the student council room that morning lugging a large suitcase. She was later than usual due to being sluggish that morning. She wanted to give it to him then, but unfortunately the bell rang and so she had to make other plans. At least she could store the automail in the student council room until lunch and wouldn't have to drag it around all day.

"I know you have to practice at lunch, but come here first, I have something to give you," she said as they walked to their first period class, ignoring the cat calls and whistles of what she could possibly be indicating.

Ed was confused, but didn't have time to question anything Winry told him before class, so he supposed that he would just have to wait until lunch time. All the same he couldn't help but be curious.

He couldn't help but notice how exhausted Winry looked, yet all the same there was a gleam in her eyes that suggested that she was excited about something. _But what?_

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait too long to find out. He had already explained to Mustang that he would be a little late to alchemy practice at lunch because he had to meet Winry.

That had given Roy enough to tease him about that he hadn't objected to the meeting. Although, Ed did worry that someone might spy on him and Winry now that the whole school was bound to know about them meeting up. _What am I worried about? It's not like anything is going to happen between us, not until after the competition at least. _

The moment the bell had rung for Lunch, Ed was the first out the door and hurrying to the Student Council room excited about whatever it was Winry wanted to talk to him about. He waited outside the room, until she came running up slightly out of breath.

"Hey," she simply said suddenly feeling almost shy.

"Hey yourself," he said smirking back at her before turning to open the classroom door and let them both in. "So what exactly was it that you needed to talk to me about?"

"Well you know how you transmuted your automail in that second competition?" she reminded him.

Ed mentally prepared himself and thought though his next response carefully. After all, every time Winry brought up that, he tended to get a few bumps on his head from a wrench. "Yes…" he said warily.

"Oh Ed really, I'm not going to bite you," Winry replied back noticing how Ed looked like he was ready to dodge the moment she reached for her "weapon."

"I'll believe you when you get to the point," he said still ready to spring out of the way.

Winry rolled her eyes before heading over to the closet and grabbing her suitcase out of it. "Well I made you some new limbs, and these ones you can transmute," she said while popping open the bag and letting Ed see the newly constructed automail.

Ed looked suspiciously at Winry before saying anything, "So I can transmute them without you getting mad?"

Winry sighed in slight frustration, "Yes, you can, now can I put these on you now or do you have any more questions."

Ed decided it would be best to keep quiet and nodded before taking off his shirt to let Winry work on his arm.

Winry didn't even blush at Ed's actions. At this point she had seen him so many times like that, she wasn't even fazed by it. Even when Ed took off his pants and now only had on his boxers, she managed to keep a blush from emerging on her face.

Still she couldn't help but take a quick glace over at the door, if any teacher came in right now they both would be in some deep trouble. After all, what teacher would believe that she was just changing out Ed's automail. Yeah right.

Without a word, Ed popped up onto the desktop to sit as Winry began to mess around with his arm, loosening some screws and other parts, before being able to take it off of him. The ejecting of the arm wasn't the bad part though. That would be putting on the new automail.

"Ed do you want me to take off your leg first, or put on your-" Winry began asking, until Ed interrupted her mid sentence.

"Go ahead and put on the arm, then I can get used to it while you're taking off the leg," Ed answered thinking it carefully though.

Winry nodded and went to pick up the new arm she had just completed the night before, then carried it over to Ed very determined. "You ready?" she asked him as her heart began to pick up pace.

He simply nodded at her, as his left hand gripped the desk getting ready for the upcoming pain.

Before she could think about it too much, Winry quickly popped the arm into Ed's sockets making sure all the wires and parts were well aligned as she did so.

Ed didn't scream, just clenched his teeth together as his left hand gripped the desk hard enough that Winry was afraid that it might be damaged in the process. She was thankful for the millionth time that Ed didn't scream like so many other patients did. She wasn't sure if she could have handled it coming from Ed.

She started tightening a few screws and other maintenance work as she asked Ed, "You okay?" noticing how his grip on the desk hadn't relaxed yet still.

"I'll be fine," he managed to grunt out while forcing his body to relax a little and within seconds his death grip on the desk managed to loosen up as Winry began to remove his leg.

Now that for the most part the pain had passed from his arm, Ed started swinging it around trying to work out any kinks in it before he left Winry's company.

"Will you watch where you're swinging that thing!" Winry demanded as Ed barely missed her head

"Oops, sorry Winry," Ed said scratching the back of his neck.

Winry didn't even answer Ed back, she too absorbed in taking off his leg. Ed couldn't help but watch as her hands moved gracefully over his leg, and yet they were so sure of where exactly to unscrew and tinker with. In a matter of seconds, his leg was off and in Winry's arms.

She quickly set it down and grabbed the new leg. He could see the excitement in her eyes as she looked at him waiting for an okay to start.

"Go for it," he said once again grabbing the desk to ready himself.

In one quick and fluid motion the leg was now a part of his body, thanks to Winry. He clenched the desk threatening to break it but did not scream out, only tightening his jaw with the pain.

"Try to take it easy the rest of the day Ed," Winry said already knowing that he was probably going to ignore her on that.

"Sure sure whatever," he said once again swinging around his arm, feeling how much easier it was to move around than his last one.

Winry sighed and shook her head at Ed's blatant disregard for safety, as she went back over to the closet to put up her suitcase and grab her backpack for the rest of the school day.

"Hey, Winry?" Ed suddenly said making her turn back around with her all her stuff.

He was scratching the back of his neck, and she could tell that he was nervous about something, "What?" she asked curiously.

His eyes met hers and he had that goofy grin on his face, "Thanks," was all he said and yet she knew he wasn't just thanking her for the automail, it was like he was thanking her for everything. She suddenly felt herself getting teary eyed, and got on to herself mentally for starting to cry over something as stupid as a little thank you.

"Geez Winry, you're gonna cry?" Ed said not being able to resist teasing her.

"Oh shut up Ed!" she said trying to hold back tears and smiling him at the same time. She couldn't take it anymore, she ran to him dropping all her stuff and flung her arms around his neck giving him the biggest hug ever.

She felt Ed stiffen in surprise, but it wasn't long before he returned the gesture wrapping his arms tightly around her and then even going as far as to bury his face in her hair while she tightened her hold on him even more.

"What the hell is going on in here?!

Ed and Winry immediately broke apart and looked toward the door as both their faces began to flush at what had just occurred and Ed's apparent lack of clothing. There standing just inside the doorway appeared to be the whole student council.

"And what do we have here?" Roy said smirking at the two of them.

Winry and Ed knew that they were never going to live this down.

* * *

Wow, another chapter done. Well this is the last of the random arc. Next arc is the… I'll tell you next chapter, I want it to be a surprise.

I think that the rest of the story is my favorite part though so be sure to watch for updates. I will be better about updating once every week, unless something comes up. But for the most part watch for updates on Tuesdays. That seems to be the day for me to update, yeah I know it's weird.

Also something I forgot to mention in the last chapter was that I enjoyed reading all the constructive criticism from my reviewers. The only thing I have to say is please try to sign in when you review just because I love responding to you guys. If you don't that's cool too though.

FFG- Jo

-Nick-

Hello people

This is Jo's incredible editor. And I must say this chapter was sick! Ed and Winry will never live this down. I love it!


	36. Chapter 36 Wow and Damn

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

This is the homunculus/ kind of sort of not really arc. Actually it's the Ouroboros arc. Yeah I know confusing. You'll just have to see.

Also, Kudos to Island Of the Ships, they were the only ones to notice Ouroboros and recognize it. (Or to actually mention it, maybe someone else notice and didn't say anything, oh well.)

**Chapter 36**

"So what exactly were you guys doing?" Mustang questioned for the millionth time.

All four Alchemy team members were on their way to the gym for the big match that day. This was the moment that they had been waiting for all year and yet they still managed to keep the mood light by choosing to tease Ed rather than worry.

"I told you before," Ed hissed, "she was just giving me some new automail."

"I didn't know you had to get so close to install automail," Mustang teased knowing that he was aggravating Ed.

It had been like this the last few days before the final competition against Ouroboros High School for the title of School Alchemy Champion. Every spare moment, someone had been on Ed and Winry's cases teasing about something, from asking how good of a kisser the other one was to warning them about being "safe."

Ed and Winry had tried to explain what had really occurred, but had been unsuccessful so far. They hadn't known that they could blush that much in such a short time. Both were to the point of almost giving up on explaining things, and yet they couldn't help but try and clarify what had actually happened.

"Brother, did nothing really happen with you and Winry?" Al asked still not completely convinced by their story.

Ed's cheeks went slightly pink as he thought back on what had occurred. Sure, it had only been a hug, but he hadn't had his shirt on at the time and something about Winry's arms wrapped around his neck… it just seemed so right. So perfect. Too bad a bunch of people barging in had destroyed the moment.

"Look, nothing happened between us so will you guys all just shut up!" Ed said truly annoyed at this point. At this point, he wanted to ask Winry out more than anything, he just wanted to wait until after the competition first.

"Sheesh Ed, don't get your underwear in a knot," Mustang said patting Ed's head as if he was just a little boy.

Ed had to grind his teeth to keep from spazing out.

"Hey you guys!" a couple of voices yelled from behind them. Turning, they could see Winry and Ella running their way, Winry with some sort of bag and Ella going a little slower, probably because she was tripping over her feet but not actually falling.

"Ahhh, young love," Armstrong muttered clasping his hands down on both the Elric's shoulders. Al didn't seem to notice, but Ed cringed at Armstrong's words.

"Come on Armstrong, it's time to take our leave," Mustang said heading toward the gym as Armstrong followed.

"Hey you guys," Winry said catching her breath as Ella caught up to the group. "Before the battle I just wanted to make sure all of Ed's screws were nice and tight," she continued holding up her bag explaining its existence.

"And we wanted to wish you luck," Ella said smiling at the two brothers. Both of the boys couldn't help but smile at their friend's cheerfulness.

"Is there somewhere we could go that's a little more private to check over your automail?" Winry asked not wanting to do it in the open; after all, Ed probably would have to strip down once again to his boxers.

"Yeah follow me," Ed said leading Winry over to the boys locker room figuring at this time of day no one would be in there.

"This will take a minute so don't wait up," Winry told Ella and Al as her and Ed walked away, but she wasn't completely sure that they two heard her. They seemed to be kind of in their own world just smiling at each other.

"Come on Ed," she said grinning, "let's get out of here before those two start making out."

"What!?" Ed exclaimed suddenly turning around to see what was happening between his baby brother and girlfriend.

"Oh no you don't," Winry said sighing as she started pushing Ed away from the couple, "Just get us somewhere out of the open."

"But…but… what about Al?" Ed said obviously struck by the idea of his little brother kissing someone.

"Oh my gosh Ed! They've been going out for months, let's hope they've been kissing!" Winry said throwing up her arms in disbelief.

"Well… I guess that would make sense," Ed said suddenly thinking very deeply about this.

Winry snapped her fingers in front of his face, waking him from his thoughts. "Earth to Ed! Focus. Now where are we going?"

"Oh yeah, right, this way," Ed said taking her hand and leading her over to the locker room where they wouldn't have to deal with lingering eyes and sarcastic remarks from others.

As they walked together, a few girls whispered and pointed at their entwined hands obviously getting the wrong impression. Even so, Ed didn't release Winry's hand, wanting to hold it as long as he could as it just fit so well into his.

Winry's cheeks were slightly pink, as her hand felt warm in Ed's. She knew what people were thinking by this public display but all the same she hoped that he wouldn't take his hand from hers. It just was too right to not be doing.

The moment that they got into the locker room and away from everyone, Ed released Winry's hand not being able to come up with a good excuse to keep holding on to it besides that he wanted to. Winry sighed wishing that she had the guts to take his hand back and tell him everything about what she wanted, but instead she stayed silent and just bit her lip slightly with nervousness.

Since that hug, they hadn't had a moment alone. Suddenly she wasn't so sure if she was going to be able to keep her cool with him when she had so much that she wanted to say.

Suddenly Ed turned around and flashed her one of his trademark grins of his that always seemed to make her smile back. "I guess we should get this started," he said not seeming to notice the slight blush that had settled on her cheeks.

"Yeah," she admitted setting down her bag to open it and find the right screwdriver to start with, "you know the drill," she said not even bothering to look up at him as he began to undress to his boxers.

"Yeah yeah I know," he admitted sitting down on one of the long benches that ran parallel to the gym lockers.

He sat there bored, as Winry began checking over every inch of his automail starting with his foot and working her way up. She was silent as she worked, completely concentrating on the task at hand. Ed watched her from the corner of his eye not sure what he would do if she caught him, but as she continued, the possibility seemed to become less and less likely.

He watched as her hands slid gently up his leg, checking every nook and cranny for anything that could possibly hinder his movements. He observed as her fingers touched his leg lightly as if she was afraid to hurt him or something, as her eyes sharpened in annoyance whenever one of his many screws weren't as tight as they could be, as her eyebrows furrowed in these moments as well, and as her lips would almost pout whenever she came across something that she didn't like.

It was the most enrapturing thing he had ever seen. And she was the girl for him; that was the most amazing part of it.

Everyone had been telling him for years that she liked him and just didn't know it, but he hadn't actually believed them until recently when she had become even closer to him, and the fact came up that now he wanted to believe. He wanted her… to be his.

Too bad he didn't know how in the hell he was supposed to do that. This kind of thing had never been his strong suit. No, he was much better at the punch someone until they were knocked unconscious kind of thing.

"Is something up Ed, you're awfully quiet today," Winry suddenly asked making Ed whip his head up in shock not even realizing how long he had been zoning.

It seemed that Winry was already done with checking over his automail and putting away her tools as he just sat there deep in thought in his boxers. "Oh, sorry about that," he said scratching his neck and then getting dressed as quickly as he could, "I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked curiously as she finished putting her tools in their places and zipped up her bag before turning back to Ed.

Ed paused, there were so many things that he could say to this but the problem really was that he didn't quite know _how_ to say it. "I… was thinking about what you do before every alchemy competition," he said reluctantly and hoping that it hadn't come out terribly cheesy.

"How I wish you luck?" Winry asked suddenly feeling pleased that Ed had been thinking of her.

Ed nodded, not sure if he could do much with his voice at the moment because he felt so nervous. "Speaking of that, I haven't given you your luck for this competition yet," Winry continued taking a step toward him but to the side slightly so that she could reach his cheek a little easier.

"No!" Ed said pulling away from her.

Winry recoiled as if she had been slapped, did he not want her to kiss him on the cheek anymore. Well, she had taken her time to start showing him her feelings, maybe he didn't actually like her the way she liked him. Maybe, he liked someone else.

"I'm sorry Winry, I didn't mean it like that," Ed said seeing the pain and confusion on her face at what he had said.

"Then what did you mean? What exactly do you want Ed?" Winry said trying to keep tears from seeping into her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself as if that was all that was keeping her together.

Ed was silent, once again words wouldn't come to him and he felt like panicking looking at Winry so upset.

"You know what, never mind," Winry said turning away deciding that maybe she didn't want to know the truth, maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much.

"Wait Winry!" Ed said reaching out immediately, grabbing her shoulder, and forcing her to turn back around and look at him. "What if I want more… with you and me," he admitted fearfully looking away at the last part.

Silence filled the room as Winry went wide eyed at Ed's confession. She hadn't expected him to want the same thing she did, and now she wasn't quite sure what to believe.

With Winry not saying anything in response, Ed took that as bad news. "Never mind Winry, I don't know what I'm talking about, you can just forget-" but Ed never got to finish his sentence, not that he minded.

Winry had flung her arms around Ed's neck and kissed him square on the mouth before he could say another word. Ed's eyes had widened in response but once he had fully comprehended what had happened, he immediately closed his eyes and snaked his arms around Winry's waist pulling her even closer to him as he kissed her back even harder than she had kissed him.

Their lips moved together as one as they pulled as close as was physically possible. Only after this lasting for a few minutes, did Winry even try to pull back only to have Ed keep leaning in and not let her get away quite yet. He smirked into her lips as she couldn't help but kiss him back losing all temptation to break off the kiss quite yet.

Ed was the first to actually pull away as Winry wasn't quite able to keep him where she wanted as he had done with her. "Wow," was all he had to say for himself as he blinked his eyes in surprise of what had just occurred between him and his best friend.

"Why did you pull away?" she asked pouting at him.

Ed couldn't help but chuckle slightly at how easily they already seemed to have made the transformation from friend to something more. "Sorry," he admitted smiling at her broadly.

"I don't want sorry, I want you to kiss me again," Winry said smiling back now.

"I think that can be arranged," he whispered in her ear before moving his lips back over hers just hovering slightly before letting her pull him down and kiss him again even more fiercely than the last one.

Once again their arms tightened around each other as their lips moved together. Only pausing when at loud "Ahem!" was heard from the door.

Slowly the two pulled apart slightly and looked over to find Al and Ella looking as if they were in complete shock, Armstrong looking as if he wanted to give them both hugs for finding true love at last, Riza with her eyebrows raised at them, and Mustang smirking like today was the best day of his life.

"Umm... hi guys," Winry said trying to act all nonchalant.

"So tell me, what's your excuse this time?" Mustang asked as his smirk grew even wider.

Ed turned to Winry catching her eye, "They're going to tease us about this until the day we die, aren't they."

"Yep," she answered back nodding her head and giving Ed a half smile.

"Damn."

* * *

People, I can't help it, I am completely expecting reviews on this because I want to know everyone's reaction to the kiss! Seriously people, I can't read your minds!

I know you guys were all waiting for this moment, but don't think that it's over yet. I still got a few more chapters up my sleeves. (Then again I don't really wear sleeves as it is summer and I live in Texas and it is HOT here, okay sorry about that random ADD moment.)

Okay this is like the Oroborus Arc, things will be explained about some stuff in the next chapter I believe. I believe that this will be the last arc to this story, but then again my arcs are quite a few chapters long so it's not the end yet. Things are yet to come.

Hope you enjoyed. Yeah I know that I updated a few hours in advance, but I just couldn't help it. I wanted this out.

FFG- Jo

Editors Note: Nick: Oh my gosh, this is even better than last chapter. (Jo: I think my sis just wanted to say something.)


	37. Chapter 37 Ouroboros Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

**Chapter 37**

Needless to say, both Ed and Winry were in high spirits as they walked back to the gym. Who knows how long they might have continued with their…activities…if their friends had not interrupted them, and now they were being thoroughly questioned by all as they made their way to the gym for the final alchemy competition of the year.

For the most part though, Ed and Winry weren't answering questions. They were too busy trying to look at each other without letting their friends see, as their hands intertwined with one another.

However the moment that the group entered the gym, Ed and Winry were pulled apart by their friends as the girls headed toward the stands and the guys headed out to the middle of the gym floor to where the officials and the other team was already waiting.

Ed couldn't help but look back over his shoulder at Winry, just as she did the same and they found their eyes meeting only to have Ed flash her one of his trademark grins as she blushed slightly.

As Winry sat down in the bleachers between Riza and Ella, she felt a variety of feelings come over her. Her heart was beating rapidly between the bliss of finally kissing Ed and her nervousness about this competition. Sure that kiss or two probably was one of the best moments of her life, but all the same, he hadn't officially asked her out yet and it wasn't like her to be so pessimistic, but she had this feeling in her gut and she just knew that something bad was going to happen, that's probably why she was so nervous.

She watched, nervously bouncing her leg, as the members of the two teams were paired up for their matches. She listened carefully as the judge began to announce the matches.

"Okay, I want nice and clean battles from all of you today," the judge said smiling as if he didn't need to worry about that. Winry immediately tensed up at his words though, something about them just made her even more nervous.

"And the matches are," he announced pulling the names as he announced, "Mustang v. Lust, Armstrong v. Greed, Al v. Sloth, and Ed v. Envy."

The audience couldn't help but stir slightly as the names were announced. The names slightly disturbed them, but then again the competition was slightly disturbing as they were all clothed in black with some red trim, as well as each of them sporting a strange tattoo that was the color of blood and could almost be mistaken for a transmutation circle of some kind. They certainly were an interesting bunch of alchemists.

As Roy and the one called Lust took the floor, their team began to rack their brains for the information that Hughes had given them earlier that day on each of the members of the Ouroboros team.

_Each of them seems to be named after_ one_ of the seven deadly sins; _Mustang quoted Hughes in his mind. _All of them are surprisingly fast and resilient. It seems like all other alchemy teams didn't stand a chance against them. Not to be pessimistic but these guys are going to be a challenge to beat._

Then Roy began to go into the specifics in his personal competition, the one called Lust. _She is supposedly more passionate than some of the others, although what she is passionate about remains a mystery to me. _It wasn't often that Hughes didn't have all the information on someone, but there was a certain point that he would not be able to truly find certain facts pertaining to specific people. _She doesn't appear to dodge attacks very well, as one of the times she was fighting she took a blow head on, but strangely enough it seemed as though she wasn't even affected by the hit. _

Mustang looked curiously over the beautiful girl that stood in front of him. He could understand immediately why she had been dubbed "Lust." Her pale complexion and midnight black hair was a strange combination but it suited her well. That and the strange tattoo in the center of her upper chest, made it hard not to notice her.

However, there was a tinge of sadness in her eyes. A look that Roy had only really seen in the Elric brothers' eyes at times when they were thinking about their parents who had died. It was a look of hesitation mixed with some sadness as well. It intrigued Roy but he shook off the thought, trying to remember the rest of Hughes advice against this "Lust" character.

_Her alchemy seems to be something with extending her fingers as if they were bullets or knives. It is suspected that she has transmutation circles on the inside of the sleeves of her dress. Although this is unconfirmed because whenever any of their alchemy team members are questioned, they remain silent. _

Roy mentally sighed at the lack of information that he had on their competition. Then again he was sure that they could beat them, after all this was the moment they had been training for all year.

As the signal was given for the competitors to start their match, he didn't waste a moment and snapped immediately, starting off the battle with a bust of flames.

However, Lust didn't seem bothered by it really and dodged off to the side quickly before any true damage could be done to her. Damn she was fast. But before Mustang had a chance to do another transmutation, she came running directly at him slashing at his face when she was still meters away.

Mustang didn't react quite fast enough and ducked off to the side, meaning that her now extended fingers that had probably been meant to finish him off, had only made two scratches on the side of his face. He could feel the blood starting to ooze out of them, and it hurt like hell.

He lifted his hand up to his cheek and then looked at his now blood soaked glove. This was bad, obviously the cuts were deeper than he originally had thought. Probably needed stitches, bad news for him and good news for Lust. After all, only bad enough for stitches wasn't a bad enough wound for Lust to be given any sort of penalty. Anything worse than probably would have meant a penalty for the girl. Damn her.

Roy didn't have time to worry about his wounds though, Lust was already running at him ready to make another injury and probably take him out this time. Quickly he dodged, this time ready for her assault, and in return sent her an attack of his own, snapping and causing some flames to begin to form around her. Too bad she was quick, although Roy could have sworn that he had gotten her partially on her arm. However when the smoke had cleared she was unmarked. Once again he mentally cursed.

She immediately attacked again with those long fingers of hers that cut like claws. At least now he knew what to expect and dodged quickly, attacking back whenever he was able to. It was almost like a dance the way they kept dodging and striking each other, adapt not a very enjoyable dance.

None the less, as they kept this up Roy noticed any time she was able to draw blood she seemed to almost get excited. She was no longer swiping at him as if to cut him, she now had changed her tactics to that of almost a stabbing motion. He knew that if she caught him with one of those attacks that she would definitely obtain a penalty… if she didn't happen to kill him. A plan quickly formed in his head.

The next time she stabbed at him he made sure to dodge… for the most part. Instead of hitting him in the heart or one of his other vital organs, he managed to move so that her fingers instead pierced completely though his left shoulder.

He groaned slightly at the attack but didn't try to escape it. He could already tell that the judge wouldn't be happy with this attack and the damage it was doing to a student. But that wasn't the most important part. Now he had her within his grasp.

Roy looked directly into Lust's smug eyes. She twisted her two fingers that had pierced though him just to see his pain. She smiled when a small gasp came from his mouth and he glared at her. It didn't matter that she was playing dirty though; it was just going to make her defeat even greater.

He couldn't resist smirking slightly as he managed to lift his left arm and grab her extended fingers to keep them in place. She was surprised at his action, he should have been trying to shake her off and instead he was keeping her in place.

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents," he said remembering back to earlier that year when he had fought with Riza.

Up in the stands, Winry couldn't help but overhear Riza's gasp as he said those words. Looking over at Riza, she was surprised to see her friend looking so worried. Hawkeye obviously didn't like the way the battle was going, and had her hands clenched grabbing her pants almost as if it was the only thing keeping her from running down to where Mustang was battling.

"Are you okay Riza?" Winry asked worried about her friend seeming so upset.

"He's such an idiot," Hawkeye hissed under her breath, staring at how Roy was getting himself hurt just to win a match.

A part of Winry wanted to disagree and remind her friend that winning meant everything to these guys sometimes. Then again, she also knew that if that was Ed down there getting hurt just to win… suddenly she felt the urge to go smack Ed upside the head. Yeah, she definitely agreed with Riza, boys are such idiots.

"Now that I have a hold of you, even if you are doing damage to me, you can't dodge my attacks any longer, so give up or be burned," Roy said tightening his grip on her extended fingers.

Lust started to smirk right back at him and then remembered the crowd all around them. She knew better than to let herself get burnt very badly in front of them and keep going. She was at the disadvantage and there was nothing she could do about it. However she didn't get a chance to forfeit before the judge stepped in.

"This match is over," he said loudly drawing everyone's attention. Roy dropped his hands to his side and Lust immediately withdrew her fingers back to their original size before turning and walking back to her teammates who were all glaring at her, probably because of her recklessness in the battle.

Mustang grunted slightly and felt a slight relief at having his shoulder free again, although now it began to bleed heavily and he clenched his teeth trying to ignore the pain for the moment and listen to the judge's announcement of who won, although he already knew, now it was just how large the win was.

"And the winner is Roy Mustang…" the judge paused until the audience calmed down. Most of the audience was oblivious to how important the size of wins could be in this competition and therefore kept screaming and cheering, just at the simple fact that they had won.

Finally after a few minutes of frustration, for everyone who was on the alchemy team, the judge continued. "Large," he announced.

Another cheer erupted from the stands and this time the rest of the alchemy team joined in. They had expected it to be small or maybe a medium, but guessed that with the damage that Lust had done that was against the rules, it must have made the win larger than expected. However, it 

probably wasn't too wise to have Roy wait to go to the hospital. The school nurse had already been called down to the gym, but it was pretty obvious that he just needed to go and get his shoulder checked out.

Winry and Ella screamed at the announcement and stood up along with the rest of the crowd to cheer. A moment later, Hawkeye stood up but not to cheer. Her face contrasted with the rest of the crowds and worry was apparent in her eyes when Winry noticed her movement.

"I have to go," she said to Winry and Ella still staring at Mustang as he held his shoulder that was still bleeding badly as he walked over to his teammates.

Winry stopped cheering and turned to Riza confused, but she didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Mustang is supposed to be my ride home and most likely he will have to go to an actual doctor for those wounds so I will probably have to go to," she explained still staring at Roy as he was examined by the school nurse while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Winry followed Riza's line of sight and watched at the nurse shook her head in disbelief at Roy's injuries. It was plain to see that he wasn't going to get to stay to watch the other battles. Those holes in his shoulder were going to have to be patched up and kept that way for quite a while, from what Winry could tell. She just hoped that they didn't get infected or something worse.

Next thing she knew, Riza was down with the other alchemy team members and Roy. She hadn't even noticed her leaving.

"That Hawkeye is a sly one alright," Hughes made a comment from his seat behind Winry and Ella who had been listening to Riza's statement as well.

"What do you mean?" Ella asked Maes, not understanding what he was trying to say about her friend.

"She was lying," he said pushing his glasses back up on his nose.

"What!?" Winry exclaimed as Ella tilted her head slightly to the side still confused.

Hughes smiled slightly and looked down at Roy as the school nurse bandaged his shoulder until he could go to the hospital as Riza and the rest of the team watched. "Hawkeye was worried about Roy so she said that she was supposed to get a ride home with him so that she could go with him, she'll probably tell Roy the same story and he'll believe her thinking that he just forgot about it."

Winry was at a loss for words, so Ella decided to ask the next question, "But how do you know that, I mean maybe she really was supposed to go with Mustang."

"Well, I overheard her talking to my Gracia this morning and asking for a ride," he answered while leaning back slightly in his seat and putting his arm around Gracia who was sitting right beside him.

Ella and Winry both looked at Gracia who gave a nod of the head admitting that Hughes was telling the truth. They then glanced at each other wide-eyed in response before breaking out in giggles as they watched Riza stand seemingly annoyed at Roy.

"She just needs to admit it already," Winry said sighing lightly.

"Not like you're any better," Ella teased her friend who blushed slightly at the comment before stealing a quick glance at Ed who was laughing with Al about something as Armstrong and Greed made their way to the floor for their match.

* * *

Wow, so I wrote probably over half of this chapter today and yesterday. I was having some major writers block. Oh well.

Warning: I might not be getting the next chapter up on time, I'll try my best but college for me starts next week and there are lots of things I'm supposed to be doing such as moving into my dorm room. Plus now that I won't be living at home, editing will take longer because I have to send it to my sis to edit and so that may take a little longer from now on. Sorry.

I'll try to update soon though, keep writing.

FFG- Jo


	38. Chapter 38 Ouroboros Part 2

First off, I am so sorry for the late update guys. College is awesome but it is making me very busy. I'm really sad that I can't write as much as I used to be able to. I hope I can figure out some way that I can.

I have to thank cobaltelixir55 for part of her review referring to the "human transmutation." It helped inspire me to write a part of this chapter and explain some things.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

* * *

**Chapter 38**

The team watched at the ambulance finally came and took both Roy and Riza with it. She had demanded to go with him, and something about Hawkeye was hard to refuse.

Only seconds after they had left, Armstrong made his way out to the floor along with the one called Greed, Al and Ed hurried back to where they had been watching, and the stands slowly began to calm. Everyone watched carefully as the two faced off just waiting for the signal for the fight to begin.

The moment the whistle was blown, they rushed at each other, ready to attack. What was strange was how Greed's body would almost turn to stone, or at least that was what it looked like, without him actually drawing a transmutation circle.

As Ed and Al watched the battle progress with the two constantly throwing punches at one another, Ed was confused by the alchemy Greed was performing. At first he had seen a red circle on the back of Greed's hands, and thought that it was a transmutation circle. As if he had tattooed a transmutation circle on himself just like Kimblee, but as the fight had continued, he had realized that it was the same tattoo that Lust had on her chest.

So if he wasn't using that for his transmutations, then how exactly was he doing them? And even if Ed ignored that, he also was confused by what he was doing being considered human transmutation. He might have just been making rock form over his skin, but then again, he had this feeling that wasn't what Greed was doing.

Thinking along those lines, Ed suddenly realized the same question could be asked about that Lust girl. She had made her fingers like bullets against Mustang, which seemed like a human transmutation as well, wasn't it? Then again it could be the dress that was changing not her fingers.

Something was different about these alchemists. Their alchemy wasn't normal. It almost seemed to break the rules, and that wasn't possible. The rules of alchemy couldn't be broken; humankind cannot gain anything without giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange.

What these students were doing now… it just didn't make sense.

All he did know for certain was that the winner of this match was only going to get a small win. It had been going on for so long that any chance of a large or even a medium win was impossible.

Finally the two alchemists came running at one another both ready to punch, but as their fists met, something no one had ever expected to happen occurred. Armstrong's brass knuckles shattered as his fist met up with Greed's rock hard fist.

For a moment it was as if time stood still as for once Armstrong seemed surprised and Greed smirked at his apparent advantage. Then before any other moves could be made, Greed grabbed the fist he had just collided with and tossed Armstrong over his head into the ground as if he was as light as a pillow.

Armstrong wasn't completely knocked out by the blow, but it would have taken him a little time to recover so it came as no surprised that the judge went ahead and ended the battle giving Greed a small win.

Since most of the audience was from their school, it groaned at the loss. Although the few fans from Ouroboros High School screamed with excitement over the win even if it had only been a small one.

The way it stood, the competition could go either way. One large win to one small win left a lot of opportunities open for each of the teams.

"Careful Al, these guys are weird," Ed warned his little brother as they helped Armstrong walk off the court. The big guy wasn't too damaged but still a little woozy from the match and had each of his arms around the brothers as they helped him to the place they watched the battles from.

Al smiled at his brother, trying to hide his worry, as he walked to the floor.

Up in the stands, Winry could feel Ella tense up beside her and she took a peek at her friend from the corner of her eye only to find that she was biting her lips hard and clasping her hands together so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

It made sense though, during Armstrong's fight neither of them had worried too much about the man. He always just seemed to give off an incredible strength that said 'I can get hit and keep going.' The guy was solid, on the other hand, Al didn't have the same thing going for him.

Plus, Winry always thought of him like a little brother and Ella was his girlfriend, so it was to be expected that they were a bit more worried about him.

"Ella," Winry said snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face. She didn't like how stressed out and worried the girl seemed and wanted to try and stir her from her thoughts.

Ella immediately sat up straighter, eyes wide. "What?!" she said alarmed and worried.

Winry gave her a soft smile trying to reassure her friend, "Everything is going to be fine,"

Ella's shoulders visibly relaxed at her friend's statement and she turned back to watch Al walking out as she spoke again. "I'm just worried about him, these guys that they are going up against aren't like all the others," she said ringing her hands slightly.

Not knowing what to say, Winry just nodded in agreement. She had noticed it too, while all the other teams they had gone up against seemed to have some self preservation, these guys from Ouroboros High School didn't seem to care if they or someone else was hurt at all. It was unnerving.

When the whistle was blown for the next match to start, Ella and Winry couldn't help but jump slightly in surprise as the whipped their heads back to Al and his competition, Sloth.

The girl looked almost too old to be in high school and one might have assumed by her long dress that she wouldn't move too quickly. But as Al attacked, relentlessly punching and kicking, she moved so quick and fluidly that it was impossible for him to get a single blow on her.

Al and Ed were both not happy about the direction that the battle was taking. While Al was breathing hard from constant attacks, Sloth hadn't even tried to attack and hadn't even broken a sweat. Things weren't looking too good.

Just like all the other battles, raw materials had been placed around the gym, and so Al quickly located a suite of armor and began to run towards it. For the first time, Sloth attacked Al. He felt himself suddenly unable to move and looking down he found that some sort of water ropes were wrapped around him. Following them with his eyes, he realized what exactly they were.

Somehow, Sloth, seemed to be transmuting her own body into water, and seemed to be able to control and stretch these appendages to do her bidding. Al couldn't believe what she was doing. He was pretty sure that this had to be against human transmutation rules. It didn't make sense, and he didn't have time to figure it out because of the battle.

On the side lines, the same thoughts were rushing though Ed's head, as he surveyed his brother being dragged back towards his enemy. He wanted to shout something to his brother, but for the life of him, couldn't think of anything that might help.

Ella, had grabbed Winry's arm the moment that Sloth's arms had stretched out and grabbed her boyfriend, and now was holding her breath as Al began to panic slightly. Winry had to remind both herself and Ella to breathe, or else they were going to pass out.

_What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? _ran over and over in Al's head as he slowly began to lose his progress towards one of the suits of armor in the room. He struggled as much as he could, but nothing seemed to make her loosen her grip on him, her arms just moved with his body.

In most instances he wouldn't have gotten so panicky, but after witnessing both Armstrong and Mustang's battles, he knew that this girl wasn't going to have any mercy on him and there was no telling what she might do. Slightly terrified of what was happening, Al began to grab at the water-like ropes and started to pull at them wishing that they would just dissolve or something.

Next thing he knew, a bright flash filled the gym followed by an awed silence. However, Al didn't seem to notice only concentrating on how constraints around him began to weaken to the point that he was able to rush right though them and away from Sloth. Looking back at his opponent, he found what everyone was dumbfounded by.

Something that he had done, had caused Sloth's arms to begin to glow a faint greenish color, and as it began to spread up her arms, she had in fact severed the affected part off and pulled away from Al as quickly as possible, while watching astonished as what had been her arms began to evaporate into the air.

Al noticed that thankfully, when she had pulled away from him and reverted back to her original form with no aqueous parts, she was whole still despite the loss of some of herself.

As he darted towards the closest suit of armor, it hit Al exactly what had just happened. He had finally managed to do a transmutation without a circle. When he hadn't been able to like his big brother after the car crash, they had started to think that maybe Al hadn't been close enough to death for him to be able to do such transmutations. But after what had just occurred, he knew now that he was capable of such alchemy, even if he didn't know how to control it… yet.

Now wasn't the time to think about different transmutations though. Now was the time to concentrate on the battle at hand, and think of a way to defeat this Sloth girl. However, things weren't looking too much in his favor. He couldn't evaporate her entire body, that was sure to be against the rules, and even if he was allowed to, he wasn't that sure that he could do another transmutation without a circle. After all, now he didn't have a clue how he had managed to do it, it had more just been instinct.

It was pretty obvious to him that there wasn't a way for him to knock the strange girl unconscious and that he was going to have to go with another method of defeating her. Capturing your opponent was no easy task though. He was going to have to think quickly and be creative with it.

For the moment, he decided that concentrating on one of his Armor fighters would have to do because he needed something to distract her while he thought. Once next to one of the armors, he quickly drew his signature transmutation circle with a small piece of chalk from his pocket.

None too soon, a liquid arm flung out making Al jump back and away from his now fully activated armor. While he began to dodge, his armor went on the offensive and began to punch back at Sloth, causing her to revert back to her liquid form constantly?

Al might have felt like he was actually doing some kind of damage to Sloth, but when she suddenly seeped into his armor he knew that he was in trouble. Suddenly, he found himself fighting against his own armor. This wasn't good.

Al nimbly jumped and dodged all of his assailant's attacks, but he knew that the longer this went on, the slower he was going to get and the chances of him being able to trap Sloth were going to get smaller and smaller.

If only there was some way to freeze time and just be able to think straight. Freeze… that was it. Without another moment's hesitation, Al changed his tactic of getting away from Sloth, to coming straight at her. Making a few rounds around the armor dodging most of her blows, he managed to draw a useable transmutation circle on the armor.

The moment it was complete, he activated it breathing heavily from the fight. The armor's movements immediately began to slow and eventually came to a complete stop as it begun to freeze over.

Within minutes, Al stepped back to admire his work. He smiled slightly as he turned to the audience looking for Ella, to give her a reassuring smile.

A few small gasps came from the crowd, but Al didn't notice, as he was too busy looking for his girlfriend. "AL LOOK OUT!!" a voice screamed from the stands that he would recognize anywhere.

It was unlike Ella to be shouting such things, so he took heed to her advice and ducked while whipping around knowing already to expect the worst.

However his expectations weren't as bad as what truly was happening. Somehow, Sloth had managed to heat back up her body and was able to move once again. But instead of just attacking Al like she had in the past, she had decided rather, just to take over Al. Therefore, she was drowning him.

He hadn't been able to get a good breath of air before his supply of oxygen had been cut off by his competitor. Try as he might, there was no way for him to simply swim out of her and get to air once again, so it was no wonder that his movements began to slow down as he started to lose consciousness. However, Sloth didn't show any signs of letting him go even if he passed out.

"STOP IT!!" Ella screamed from the stands as fresh tears began to stream down her face. She was being held back by Winry so that she couldn't run down the stands to Al. Not because Winry didn't want her to be with Al, but because she was afraid that Ella might be purposely hurt by Sloth out of spite.

Ella's scream seemed to wake up most of the people watching the match who had gone dumbstruck at the sight before them. Quickly a whistle was blown as a judge frantically ran to the floor along with a few refs demanding for Sloth to put down Mr. Elric at once.

For a split second, it almost seemed like she was going to tell him no and continue to kill Al, but then she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly before pulling away from the boy letting him fall to the floor coughing and spluttering.

Completely annoyed, the judge announced though clenched, teeth Sloth's small win. The audience went up in a great roar filling the gym with a mixture of cheers and protests about what had just happened. However, the judge didn't seem to really care what the audience was saying and instead was walking with Sloth as she headed back to her seat, yelling at her about what she had just done and how it had not only been wrong as well as against the rules.

At the same time, Ella rushed along with Winry close behind, to where Ed was already sitting with Al who was still coughing up water in the middle of the gym floor.

* * *

The thing about Al being able to do transmutations without circles, I mentioned that back in Chapter 5 before, in case you were wondering, yeah it was a long time ago so just reminding you guys.

Announcements: I have started another fma mutichapter fic. "The White Soul Alchemist" I'm very excited about it and I hope you guys all read it. It is from Ella's point of view which could be interesting, and it's definitely EdxWinry and AlxElla. Well, I feel like I'm advertising here, but oh well because I am excited about it. Oh and updates for this are going to be few and far apart until Full Metal High School is completely done.

Also I made an EdxWinry Oneshot the other day (it's the reason why I was so late on this chapter, it got in my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I finished it) So if you like oneshots I would say you might want to check it out. It's called "Not You"

These are completely optional, I'm not going to force you to do anything because let's face it, it's not like I could. I hope you read my other stuff, but oh well if you don't. Anyway…

Keep writing!

FFG- Jo


	39. Chapter 39 Ouroboros Part 3

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA… okay this is really silly for me to say over and over and over… I'm just going to say it now and let it count for the rest of the fic, okay… Awesome.

Thanks: First off I really needed to thank some people so I thought why not now. First: My little sis, without her this chapter would have been crap, no kidding, I had so many problems in this chapter it's not even funny. Second: my very good friend who is Freyjadour, guys I probably would have been even slower about updating if it wasn't for him asking about fmhs. (I'm forgetful okay) and Thirdly: all you readers and reviewers, I can't explain how happy I am whenever someone comments on my fic, makes my day. I love writing and all the support you guys give me makes it even better which a year ago I didn't even know.

Note: Oh my gosh! I'm so freaking out because apparently they are making another season of FMA! YEAH! Just thought I would spread the good news.

**Chapter 39**

For someone so small, Ella's strength was surprising as she barreled into Al, tears still streaming down her face. Al, who had just been sitting there trying to catch his breath, had been taken by surprise, and had fallen back and slammed his head hard against the floor.

Ella immediately jumped off Al and kneeled beside him, muttering apologies and trying to wipe the tears from her face as quickly as possible. When she opened her eyes again, she found Al looking very curiously at her. Not being able to handle his heavy gaze, she looked down slightly embarrassed by her actions.

After all, she had just caused Al to hit his head What had she been thinking when she had tackled him. And yet, even now her hands itched to latch on to him again and never let go. Why was she so affected by just one boy? True, she knew that she liked him, heck; she would probably go as far as to say she loved him. But she should have known that Al would pull though, even if it was only because of the judges.

She felt someone touch her hand and looked up to find Al had reached over and taken her hand in his. The look he gave her made her stomach do a little flip. He looked incredibly concerned, and for a moment silence just hung between them.

Then without a word, Al reached up to Ella's face and lightly brushed away a tear that had begun to stream down the frightened girl's face. She immediately tried to pull away and hide her tears; it was too embarrassing for Al to see her like this.

But, Al wasn't going to have any of that. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him taking her in his arms trying to comfort her as best as he could.

Ella gave in to Al's embrace and let him hold her despite how wet he was. She didn't seem to mind or care though and instead grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt as she let her tears go, hiding them from everyone else.

"Please don't leave me like… he did," she murmured slightly muffled by her face being buried in Al's shirt.

Al couldn't help but pull her even closer to himself as his worry began to heighten. _Who was Ella talking about and what had happened? I thought I knew everything about Ella, but then again it's just like her to try and hide her pain. _Al thought as he remembered her overreaction to not having been kissed by him for so long. Yet she always had trouble not crying when she was upset about anything.

It was no wonder that she now was trying to hide her tear-streaked face. He knew how much she didn't like people seeing her cry. He hated seeing her like this and knew that he had scared her. All he could do was hold her closer, thankful not only that he had lived through the whole ordeal, but for the girl he held in his arms.

Al looked up to find Ed staring curiously at him holding his girlfriend. Winry was standing just a little behind his older brother, looking worried. Al wasn't surprised, after all he had just been through he was getting nervous about his brother fighting one of these guys.

Ed still looked really pissed, even though he knew he didn't have to worry about Al anymore, but that didn't change the fact that he wasn't happy about what had happened and it made him really want to go beat someone up, preferably Sloth. He quickly made his way to his feet and started to turn away, when Al said quickly, "Brother."

Ed froze not even turning back to his little brother before Al began to finish what he started to say. "Don't go try and fight them now brother, you'll have your chance soon enough." He said trying to convince Ed not to get too hot headed about the whole thing.

Ed turned back and grinned before saying, "What did you think I was gonna do, storm over there and beat them up."

Al sighed, knowing better than to completely trust him, but realized that it was in fact Ed's turn to fight, he probably needed to get off the middle of the battle field so that the last match could start.

"Ella, we have to get off the gym floor," he whispered in her ear.

As much as she didn't want to, Ella pulled away from Al, and wiped as many tears away as she could before flashing him a quick smile, trying to reassure him that she was fine now. Al knew better, but decided to question his girlfriend at a later time about what she had said." After all, it was time for Ed's fight.

Ella jumped up quickly and stuck out a hand to help Al up, who chuckled slightly at the idea of Ella helping him up, but all the same took her hand knowing that it would make her feel better if nothing else.

Giving his big brother a quick nod of the head, Al walked off the gym floor holding Ella's hand.

Ed and Winry were left on the floor watching Al and Ella as they walked away. Winry turned to Ed with her stomach twisting in anticipation. Whether it was from the upcoming battle or just standing next to Ed, she didn't know.

"You know Ed," Winry started, getting the boy's attention. "I swear I will kill you if you die," she said practically glaring at him.

Ed wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, and chose just to shake it off like no big deal. "Who do you think you're dealing with, I'm the fullmetal Alchemist," Ed said confidently while grinning at Winry.

"Just be careful," Winry added meekly looking down at the floor. Seeing Ella so freaked about Al had her thinking, and she wasn't sure that she wasn't going to be the exact same way by the end of Ed's battle, if it was at all similar to Al's.

"Don't worry so much about me," Ed said causing Winry to look up at him. "It'll give you wrinkles," he added trying to make light of the situation.

Winry just shook her head in amusement. She didn't understand how he wasn't worried at all, then again this was Ed. Worrying about other people was his forte, not worrying about himself.

With a small smile she jogged off the floor to join Ella and Al, while Ed turned towards his opponent who was already waiting.

"Envy," he said trying to sound as nonchalantly as possible.

"Edward Elric, I've been looking forward to this battle," he said smirking, "I've wanted to meet you and your brother for years."

Ed couldn't help but tense, what the hell was this guy talking about. He sounded as if he was some sort of stalker. "Leave my brother out of this," Ed said, his voice dripping in venom.

Envy just sniggered before finally answering, looking back at Ed straight in the eyes, "No, his battle disappointed me. I'm much more interested in how you will do."

At that moment the whistle was blown, yet the two contestants just continued to stand there glaring at one another. "What do you mean by, for years?" Ed asked suddenly as his eyes narrowed.

Envy threw his head back laughing, highly amused. Ed only stood there glaring even harder at his opponent, if that was possible. "I can't believe your father never told you," Envy said still chuckling to himself. "Then again, Hohenheim was never one to let people know his mistakes, so to speak."

Ed's eyes widened at Envy mentioning his father. "What the hell do you know about my father?!" he demanded losing all patience and attacking his opponent.

Envy easily dodged the punch, ducking down before whipping back up and kneeing Ed in the stomach. The force of the blow was enough to slam him onto his back, knocking the breath out of him. "I know so much more than you," Envy said smirking, before he was enveloped in a flash of white and next thing Ed knew, the entire gym was gasping in surprise.

Ed, himself wasn't too surprised by the sudden strange alchemy, causing Envy to look like another person. It was who he looked like that surprised Ed so much. There standing before him was an exact replica of his own dead father. However, something was different about the way he looked.

He looked younger than the father Ed had grown up with, he looked like the high school version of his father. Still there was no mistake; this definitely was his father… or an imitation of his father.

On the sidelines, Al gripped Ella's hand tighter as he stared at the scene, Winry's eyes were wide in disbelief, and Ella was looking back and forth between her boyfriend and the battle with Ed as confusion etched its way across her face.

"You disappoint me son," Envy said in a voice that Ed remembered oh so well. He flinched slightly at the words. He knew it wasn't his real father in front of him, but it still hurt. "Come on, you're just standing there, why don't you fight."

Ed only clenched his fists as he tried to remind himself that Envy was just trying to mess with him. Suddenly Ed found himself getting even more annoyed. There were just way too many things about these people and their alchemy that just made no sense. Who were they and how could they do alchemy like that?

"What? Is the little boy not going to do anything?" Envy said once again mockingly.

That was it! Ed had reached his breaking point and there was no turning back now. Before another second could pass, he had rushed Envy, blindly throwing punches all the while in his complete frustration and screaming "Shut the hell up you bastard!"

Envy was only taken by surprise for a second, before he smiled at the growing intensity of Ed. Flashing white, he returned to his original form, as he dodged a few punches and even managed to knee Ed sharply in the stomach.

Ed immediately doubled over in sharp pain holding his stomach lightly. However, that didn't last very long, because in the next second, Envy was kicking Ed in the face. Something else that didn't feel too good in his opinion.

Ed was sent flying with the force of Envy's kick. Too bad for Envy, that after continuously training with his team members, Ed just used the momentum from the blow to roll a few times before being able to slow down enough and get ready to spring from his knees for a counterattack.

When Envy came barreling towards Ed, he simply clapped once and transformed his automail into its blade form and held it out to the side just waiting for Envy to crash into it. Envy's eyes only widened for a split second giving away some of his fear, but it was followed by a smirk and Ed knew immediately that the bastard had something planned.

Instead of crashing into Ed's blade arm, Envy managed to grab onto it and just swing himself straight under. Granted, his hands were cut by the sharp edges of Ed's arm, but that didn't matter so much. Plus he was able to attack Ed by knocking his opponent's feet out from under him as he slid away. But, Ed's quick reflexes allowed him to roll back on to his feet, ready to attack once again.

Envy having not slid very far before jumping to his feet, was able to get to his opponent before Ed could attack him. Strangely enough, Envy's arm had flashed white for a second before changing into what looked like a blade. Ed huffed in annoyance, he figured anything they did now wouldn't be that surprising but it sure as hell was getting infuriating.

A series of punches, blocks, and swipes at one another took place between the two, as they continued to fight. Ed could only hope that Envy might tire out before him. That would be the easiest way to beat the guy. However, when Envy took another swipe at his face and managed to nick it with his blade arm, giving Ed a deep cut, Ed figured that wasn't the best idea. It didn't look like this Envy guy was going to let up anytime soon if ever.

As Envy continued to exchange punches with Ed, he tried as hard as he could to think of some sort of plan_. Options. What I really need now is options. _He decided. Only problem was that there weren't very many alternatives that he could win the alchemy competition with. Knock out the opponent, render them unable to battle, forfeit… none were good choices. That is until Ed realized something strange about all four opponents from Ouroboros High School.

It didn't make sense, but then again nothing about these strange competitors had made sense from the start. So with that in mind, Ed decided to try something that could maybe defeat this strange alchemist.

Dodging one of Envy's particularly strong punches, Ed managed to roll out far enough away from Envy to quickly clap his hands together and slam them down into the floor. Envy didn't even seem to care as he ran at Ed to attack once again, but instead found that he was sinking.

In seconds Envy was buried in the floor up to his shoulders struggling to get free and cussing nonstop. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" he demanded looking up at Ed, who found the entire scene to be highly amusing.

Ed chuckled slightly. "It's just as I thought," Ed paused for dramatics. "Even with all your fancy alchemy that doesn't seem to follow any of the rules, you can't do the simple transmutations that even alchemy I and II students do easily." He said confidently and smirking slightly at the boy who was glaring fiercely back at him.

"You think you're all that… just like your father," Envy said maliciously as he continued to struggle despite that he knew there was no use.

Ed stiffened at the mention of his father once again, "What the hell do you know about my dad?" Ed asked curiously now that the battle was completely over and the judges were announcing the winner as Edward Elric with a small win.

Of course the audience was going crazy with excitement after such a heated match with a close win. Ed didn't quite care as much about that at the moment, being more concerned with how Envy knew his Dad. Before he could find out anything, not that Envy would have said much, Ed felt himself being lifted up into the air as Armstrong tossed him up on one of his shoulders for everyone to see.

The cheers of the crowd grew even louder. Ed couldn't help but grin at all the attention. Al and Ella laughed as Armstrong began to swing Ed around, oblivious to the fact that all Ed wanted at the moment was to have his feet firmly back on the ground.

Ed managed to catch a glimpse of Envy making his way off the floor and towards his teammates and he mentally cursed at the fact he wasn't going to be able to question Envy any farther. But as he was set back on the floor by Armstrong, all thoughts of Envy disappeared from his mind as his eyes met hers.

There in front of him was Winry, and she was smiling at him, although it wasn't a normal smile. It was sweet and a light blush covered her cheeks. Ed could have sworn the gym went dead silent in that moment, but then again he probably was just too focused on Winry to actually hear anything else.

"Hey," he said softly as a small grin began to spread on his face.

"Hey," she said back as she rung her hands out nervously behind her back.

For a moment neither of them said a word and chose to instead look around everywhere in the gym but one another's' eyes. But try as they might, the two couldn't help but look back at each other, and as it happened their eyes locked. Neither of them spoke and just looked at one other, waiting.

Ed finally decided to actually ask 'what now' but just as he started, "Wha-" he was cut off by a pair of lips on his own. Winry had finally just given up on waiting for Ed to say something, after all, he had done the talking last time, and this time she was going to be the one to take action.

Her arms snaked passionately around Ed's neck as she deepened the kiss as he slowly put his hands on her hips and pulled her even closer to him. Many who saw weren't surprised in the least; after all they had been expecting them to get together for years.

Ed and Winry didn't care about how many people saw, at the moment, all they could see was each other. However, if they had happened to look over at the door, they might have seen Envy grinning like a mad man upon seeing the two kiss. Something was up.

* * *

So sorry for the late update, however I've been working on my college stuff that I've had absolutely no time. I hate that so much. Anyways, I'll be working my hardest on the next chapter for this although I'm not promising anything soon because I really need to update some of my other fics.


	40. Chapter 40 The Beginning of the End

A/N: Oh my Freaking Gosh! Can't believe I'm already on Chapter 40. Plus just a few weeks back, this fic passed its one year mark which is really hard for me to believe. Therefore this fic (which was the first thing I ever started writing on the site) and me have now officially been on the site for a year. Thanks to everybody who read or reviewed FMHS, you guys are awesome!

Also hope everyone has a Happy New Year.

* * *

**Chapter 40**

Ed couldn't help but smile to himself as he stepped out of the locker room shower and began to get dressed. He had just come from Alchemy practice. Even though all the competitions were over and they had won the season now, the practices had continued. And now he was going to meet up with Winry, the true reason for the smile tugging on his lips.

Honestly Ed couldn't have planned how well things were going.

First of all, they had won the competition. Sure there had been some minor injuries but everyone was better now and he couldn't help but find a little humor in the pain Mustang was going through. He figured it kind of made up for the guy being such an ass at times.

Then there was his and Winry's relationship. There was hardly a second of the day that they weren't with each other. He hadn't thought that they could spend any more time together, but now that alchemy team practices weren't being quite so demanding, he suddenly was finding that he had a lot more free time, which became time he spent with Winry, so to speak.

The only things that Ed really was disappointed with was that since the day of the alchemy competition Winry hadn't kissed him and that "technically" they weren't dating… yet. But he had a plan.

Originally he had wanted to get her some sort of necklace to give her as he asked her out. When Winry had to help out in the shop one afternoon, he had even walked to a small jewelry store to look at what they had. As he looked at all the jewelry, none of them seemed to fit Winry.

He felt like he couldn't just get her some heart charm that any guy could get any girl. No, this needed to be more… personal. It might be small and probably shouldn't matter that much, but at the same time, he felt like it needed to convey to her that she was special. Crap, he was getting soft.

Anyway, so in the end, he hadn't found anything, and had decided to just do without and get her something later. Maybe he would even let her pick it out so that he would be sure that she would like it.

So the new plan had been to wait until Friday, today, and take Winry out after alchemy practice, and ask her to be his girlfriend. Of course Ed was nervous about the whole ordeal, but Al and Ella had reassured him numerous times that Winry was going to say yes.

It was just the fact that they hadn't kissed really since the competition that made him nervous. Then again, Winry had given him a peck on the cheek every day, multiple times, since that day, so he guessed that really, he shouldn't have anything to worry about.

"Ed, are you in there!" an excited voice that he immediately recognized interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah," he shouted back as he started putting on a white dress shirt to look a little nicer than usual for their date. "Just finishing up getting dressed, you can come on in, all the others already left."

Smiling broadly, the blonde haired girl walked in boy's locker room looking around as if really checking that no one else was around. "So where did everyone go already?" she asked out of curiosity.

Ed smiled back at her and answered, "They all took quick showers and left. Apparently they all had things to do and people to see."

"Like what?" Winry asked still smiling.

Before answering Ed walked over to one of the locker room benches and sat down to tie his shoes. "Ummm… I'm not sure what Armstrong had, I think it was some kind of family meeting? Then Roy had to rush so that Riza could drive him home, cause apparently he isn't allowed to drive until he is fully recovered," Ed chuckled a bit and added under his breath "the bastard."

Realizing what he had just said in front of Winry though, he stiffened knowing that she probably was going to get on to him again about fighting so much with Mustang. However, when nothing happened for a moment, Ed looked up at his to be girlfriend and found her just smiling and waiting for him to finish.

It was weird, but then again figuring that he was avoiding a hit on the head, Ed continued. "And Al was going to see Ella, I hope they are okay, you know how they've been arguing all week."

"That's terrible," Winry said looking concerned.

"Yeah it is," Ed said finishing up with his shoes before looking up at Winry slightly confused. He just figured that she might be a little more worried about Al and Ella than just saying 'that's terrible.'

"What's wrong?" she asked seeing his confused expression.

Ed shook his head and blinked realizing that he was making a weird face at Winry. "Nothing," he said standing up, "you just surprised me a little, never mind."

"Oh really," Winry cooed putting her hand on her hip and tilting her head a little to give Ed a very suggestive look.

"Yeah," Ed said startled. Winry wasn't normally one to flirt like this. Their relationship had always been pretty straight forward when he thought about it. Sure she flirted a little with him, but it never was much like this. No, it was more like she would tease him to get him riled up.

Strutting over to where Ed was standing, Winry put one arm around his neck and with the other began to finger at his shirt seductively. "Do you not like this Ed?" she questioned with a small pout on her face.

He didn't know what to think. Yes, there was a part of him that was deeply enjoying this kind of attention from Winry. After all, who wouldn't? But then another part of him was just screaming that something was wrong with this entire situation. Since when did Winry just come on to him like this… without warning?

Ed made a split decision then that something was wrong, and he was going to figure out what. Placing both of his hands on Winry shoulders he pushed her back so that he could look her in the eye at arms distance as he talked to her. "Winry. What's going on? Is something wrong, you don't normally act like this?"

He watched at her smile wavered slightly obviously debating on something. However, he never got to ask what she was thinking, because in the next second they were interrupted by… Winry?

"Ed! Ed!" the blonde girl shouted as she barreled into the locker room at full speed almost running into some of the gym lockers in the process. "Ed! I just saw Ella and Al, and things didn't look so good. I mean they were arguing again, which isn't cool cause you know how they never…" she trailed off at seeing the scene in front of her.

Ed was wide-eyed staring at this second Winry who had just run in. Suddenly he felt nothing in his hands, and instead heard a little voice in his ear. "So it seems my plan has been found out." As he realized just what exactly had happened, but before he could react, he was kneed sharply in the stomach causing him to stumble back a few steps.

His body reacted automatically, as he/she tried to catch his breath and swung his fist out to try and punch his attacker in the face. However he easily dodged under his arm and punched him once in the stomach before swinging around and kicking him hard in the jaw.

Because of the momentum of the kick and Ed being off balanced, he ended up slamming into a set of lockers, busting open his lip.

"ED!" he heard Winry scream in horror.

Wiping his mouth, Ed looked up ready to charge the Winry who had just attacked him, only to find her smirking in amusement.

In a second he was on his feet rushing her as he clapped and transformed his arm to its blade form, only to have her duck under his arm once again as he sliced at his opponent. "I knew something was wrong!" he yelled pissed that he hadn't recognized it earlier.

The first Winry laughed as she flashed bright white and returned to her original form, Envy. Ed began to charge once more, only to have Envy retreat back in a series of flips.

"Stop running you bastard!" he yelled already sick of Envy's tactics.

"Alright," Envy said sinisterly as he stopped where he was and grabbed something from behind a set of lockers.

Ed stopped dead in his tracks and clenched his fists in rage. "Let go of her!" he demanded at the sight.

When Winry had seen Ed and Envy start to fight, she had ducked behind a set of lockers just trying to stay out of the way. Not a moment later though, she realized that had been a bad plan and that she should have just gone for help, she refused to back away farther from the door hoping to get the chance to run out.

Sadly, her plan of staying out of the way until she could get out wasn't exactly working, because when Envy had retreated from Ed, he had purposely come her way, and before she knew what was going on, she had been pulled out and now had Envy's arm to her throat. But his arm wasn't exactly an arm anymore. Somehow the guy had managed to change it into a blade just like Ed's.

Winry squirmed under his grasp. He had a tight grip on her arm with his hand and held his bladed arm up to her neck. Looking at Ed, she could tell that he was pissed.

"See," Envy started obviously enjoying what he was putting both Ed and Winry through. "I don't think I can do that."

Ed took a step forward obviously ready to attack, but at the same moment, Envy tightened his grip on Winry and said playfully. "Uh uh uh," pulling his blade arm even closer to Winry's neck, cutting it just enough so that a small drop of blood began to trail down. She flinched slightly at the pain more surprised than actually hurt.

"You wouldn't want me to accidently slip up would you?" Envy asked taking pleasure in every moment of this.

Ed immediately froze, knowing that one wrong move and Winry would be as good as dead. "What do you want?!" he demanded fiercely.

Envy chuckled a little, "See I've often found myself asking just that."

Ed clenched his fists even tighter, tired of the way Envy was playing with him. However he managed to bite his tongue for Winry's sake.

"Basically, I want you to suffer," Envy said clenching his teeth in anger as he remembered so many things about his past.

"Then let go of Winry and we can fight… just the two of us," Ed said while taking another careful step forward.

Envy noticed and pulled Winry even closer to him warning Ed once again to stay back before he began to talk. "See, that's what I had planned to do originally. Dress up as your little girlfriend here and attack you with the one face that you would least expect." Envy said smiling at his apparent ingenious.

"But she had to go spoiling the plan by rushing in here all worried just when I was about to attack you." Envy said frowning slightly at Winry who just glared back.

Ed couldn't help but feel kind of proud at Winry in that moment. She would just glare back at the man who had her to knife point. If he didn't know better, she probably would attack him if she could. A flash of something metal caught Ed's attention suddenly as he realized that very subtly Winry was reaching into her back pocket with her right hand, and knowing what resided there, he knew what was going to happen soon, and to be ready.

"Her coming in probably was a good thing though because honestly if you are anything like your father, you probably wouldn't mind dying as long as everyone else was safe, am I right?" Envy guessed smirking at Ed.

"So I thought 'what would really hurt you?' and realized that for you to go through as much pain as possible, you needed to live. And your girlfriend… needed to die." Envy said challenging Ed with his eyes. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked obviously proud of himself.

Ed smirked back and said simply, "Nothing."

Envy looked at Ed in confusion before Winry's heel came down hard on his foot making him loosen his grip on her just slightly, but that was all that she needed. Without hesitation, she ducked under his arm, pulled out her wrench, and slammed it into the back of his head with every bit of strength she had.

Ed couldn't help but smile slightly and think to himself, _That's my girl,_ at hearing the large smack of metal to bone.

With that, all of Envy's concentration was broken and his arm instantly changed back to its original form and he was pissed. With the back of his hand, he immediately slapped Winry in the face.

He couldn't do anything else though before Ed tackled him to the ground punching him in the face. Winry on the other hand, had slammed back into a wall and fell to the floor with a loud crack as her head hit the concrete.

Ed looked back for a split second to find Winry sprawled out on the floor motionless, before he continued to punch Envy even harder as his anger increased with every passing second that he couldn't check on Winry.

"I swear, if you hurt her!" he roared as he continued to punch.

Envy smirked seemingly amused by the pain he had put Ed through even if he was the one bleeding all over the floor. "If you've forgotten I've already cut her neck," he said calmly reminding Ed of what he had done.

"Good Point!" Ed bellowed as he punched Envy one last time with his automail arm so hard that Envy's head slammed against the floor before rebounding slightly with a loud crack that echoed in the now silent locker room.

Standing up, Ed looked at the now unconscious Envy and knew that he couldn't just leave him like that. With a small clap of his hands, he brought them down on the floor and just like that, a cage sprung up around the delusional teen.

More worried about Winry, Ed looked over his shoulder hoping that she would be alright, but instead found her still in the same position she had fallen in. He felt like his heart stopped and he rushed over sliding down to her.

"Winry?" he asked looking over her and noting that no blood seemed to be showing besides a couple drops on her neck. Slipping one of his hands under her head, he lifted it up slightly as he shook one of her shoulders with his other hand. "Winry?!" he said a bit louder as he imagined the worst.

He was about to take the one hand from her shoulder to check for a pulse, when he felt her move. "Ed?" she whispered so faintly that he wasn't even sure she had really said it.

Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled slightly at seeing Ed. "Ed," she said this time without question. He helped her sit up as she asked, "What happened?"

"Don't worry, Envy's unconscious now," Ed said still helping her up before moving over so that she might see for herself.

However, she didn't take her eyes off of him as they widened slightly in fear. "Ed, what happened to you?!" she said placing both of her hands on his chest fingering at his shirt.

Looking down, Ed found his shirt covered in Envy's blood, he hadn't realized just how much of it had gotten on him during his rampage.

Without thinking, Ed pulled her hands off of him and into his own trying to calm her down. "Oh my gosh Ed your hands," she gasped seeing so much red on them.

Ed mentally punched himself for not realizing that of course Envy's blood would have gotten all over his fists as he had pounded the guy. "None of it's mine. All of it's his," he said squeezing her hands slightly and smiling still more concerned with her than him. "But are you okay," he asked looking straight in her eyes.

His gaze was so intense that Winry suddenly felt like she should look away, but at the same time she found that she couldn't. There was something in his eyes that she didn't recognize.

She had heard that if you look into the eyes of someone you can see their most inner feelings. She had never actually believed that before, but in that moment, she felt like she could. There obviously was concern and worry, and then there was caring, all things that she knew already. But then there was something else there. Something so intense, she was afraid to name it in fear that she was wrong… Love.

Could it really be that Ed was in love with her? Sure she had realized that she liked Ed a lot more than just a friend and really thinking about it, she probably loved him. Just thinking about him loving her too though… it was a little surreal.

"Let's get you to the nurse's office, maybe she is still here," Ed said as he broke the eye contact with Winry and took her arms and wrapped them around his neck. She didn't even notice as he slipped his hands behind her back and under her knees lifting her up gently. She was too engrossed in his face still wondering about his true feelings for her to really notice anything.

Only when he began walking, did Winry notice Ed was carrying her and her grip on his neck became much tighter automatically along with her whole body stiffening in slight surprise.

"Ed, why don't you just go get help?" she asked feeling slightly lightheaded.

Ed didn't even look at her as he answered. "I'm not leaving you alone with that creep." Winry thought he was going to stop there but he surprised her by continuing. "If he woke up and I had left you there… he wouldn't have hesitated before hurting you." Winry felt his grip on her tighten automatically.

"He knows that hurting you would hurt me more than anything else he could have done." Ed admitted still refusing to look down at the girl in his arms.

Winry didn't know what to say to that and instead just opted for leaning her head against Ed's chest. Suddenly she felt slightly tired and began to close her eyes just wanting to sleep.

"Hey Winry, don't do that," Ed said suddenly noticing how the girl was drifting off slightly.

She just hummed to herself slightly before whispering tiredly, "Be quiet Ed, I want to sleep."

Ed shook her slightly in his arms waking her up enough for her to glare at him. "You should be checked by a doctor before you go to sleep," he said explaining. But she didn't hear, as her eyes were already closing again. "Winry wake up!" he shouted, but it was useless as she was already out.

Next thing Winry knew was her eyes were opening and she groggily looked around not recognizing where she was. "Winry!" she heard someone squeal before she noticed Ella standing by her side with Al right next to her.

"We were so worried about you when Ed showed up with you unconscious in his arms," Ella admitted carefully taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, we rushed you over to the hospital as quick as possible," Al added smiling.

"Turns out you have a small concussion," Ella said while swinging her legs back and forth.

"That and a really nice bruise on the back of your head," Al added leaning back against the wall.

"Thanks but I think I knew that already," Winry added sarcastically before getting serious once again with another question. "Where is Ed?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows and looking at Al knowing that he was the one more likely to know.

Al's expression immediately darkened and Ella looked away from Winry as quickly as she could. "He went back to the school… after."

Winry was confused by what exactly Al was trying to hint at. "After I got put in the hospital?"

"Yes, and no," he answered shaking his head. "How about I start at the beginning, see, when Brother found us, he was pretty messed up, I mean blood all over and-"

"Yeah, I know. I remember there being blood all over his hands," Winry admitted looking down at hers and hoping that she would never have to see that again.

"Well… yeah…" Al started obviously uncomfortable with the state his older brother had been in. "He was so pissed Winry."

"Yeah," she agreed recalling the state Envy had been in when Ed had picked her up. "He looked like he was going to kill Envy," she added also remembering the small cut in her neck and she lifted her hand up only to find that a small bandage had been put on top it.

"No Winry," Ella said placing a hand on the girl's knee causing her to look up into her friend's eyes in surprise. "He was mad at himself," Ella admitted.

"What?! Why?!" Winry exclaimed.

"You know Brother, always trying to blame himself," Al said shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know," Winry said slowly looking back down into her lap.

Ella continued the story trying to fill Winry in on what all had happened when she was unconscious. "So, then we ended up running into Mrs. Izumi who was with Roy and Riza. So of course they got involved in the entire thing, calling the police and then keeping an eye on Envy until someone could pick the guy up, while we went with you."

"I still don't understand what made Ed leave though," Winry said still confused.

Al and Ella looked at each other before Al began to speak. "See, after we got here and had found out that you just had a concussion and not anything life threatening, and Ed had gotten cleaned up, although I kind of had to force him to just because he didn't want to leave you alone for a second-"

"Al!" Winry shouted knowing that he was just rambling because he was nervous about something. "Just get to the point." She said sighing.

Al looked at Ella once again and she nodded to him encouraging him to go on. "He wasn't there Winry."

"Who wasn't where?" she asked not sure what Al was getting at.

"Envy. When Mustang, Hawkeye, and Mrs. Izumi got to the boy's locker room, Envy was gone," Al said hoping that Winry wouldn't freak out.

"So Ed went back to the school to find Envy?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah," Ella said still trying to smile but failing. "And you should know one other thing Winry," she added. "All of them are gone."

Winry's head snapped up and she immediately winced at the slight pain it caused. "You mean…"

Al decided to finish for her. "The Ouroboros alchemy team and their couch disappeared."

* * *

So sorry for the late update. I seriously had this chapter done for two weeks. TWO WEEKS! But with Christmas and stuff, basically none of the editing got done on it until just now. I'll really try and update sooner this next time.

Cool thing is that this is my longest chapter yet for this fic. Hope you all enjoyed.

FFG- Jo


	41. Chapter 41 Problems

Okay, so this chapter is a present for one of my best friends who happens to be becoming a legal adult today (According to U.S. law) Freyjadour. I wish I could have gotten you something better, but hopefully this chapter will do.

Sorry for the late update and the fact it's kind of short, especially for me. And once again thank Freyjadour for the update because about a week ago I asked him which fic I should update and he said FMHS, and that's why I posted for this one, hehehe.

Just like in one of my way earlier chapters, ' ' are the note.

**Chapter 41**

Things couldn't be worse.

Winry sighed as she began to look over the large stack of papers she had for student council that day. Since end of the school year was coming up, the work for the class was starting to pile up. Sadly, that was the least of Winry's problems.

Suddenly a folded piece of paper landed on her desk.

Unfolding it, she immediately recognized Ella's handwriting and looked over her shoulder at the girl. Ella seemed like she was working intently on some paperwork, but being one of her closest friends, Winry could tell that she was just pretending to work and trying to ignore Al who kept looking at her every few seconds.

'So how are you and Ed?' Winry read like always. She sighed just thinking about it. It was like this every day for her and Ella, ever since two weeks ago when Envy and all the other Ouroboros team members had disappeared.

At first everyone had been worried that Envy was going to come back, and those first days back at school had been some of the most stressful she had ever gone through. It wasn't so much that she was worried about being attacked, but that she was worried about Envy catching her or someone else by surprise with the way he could shape shift.

Plus it really didn't help that Ed suddenly was avoiding her like the plague. It hurt, a lot more than she wanted to admit.

They had finally just been practically together, and then Envy attacked, and now he wasn't speaking to her. And the worst part of it all was that she had no idea why.

She had tried to confront him about it, but he always managed to get away from her before she could say a word. Frankly, she was getting pretty infuriated.

'Still won't talk to me,' she wrote back to Ella before adding as an afterthought, 'Won't even look at me. Idiot!' And then she quickly flicked it back over to Ella not even the slightest worried about being caught slacking off by one of the others. They were too busy with their own work.

Winry had just filled out about half a page rejecting a student's proposition for the school to ban all science, not that she found it to be a half bad idea but she figured that it wasn't going to be approved and really was just a waste of space, when the piece of paper landed back on her desk.

Unfolding it, she read 'I'm sorry,' from Ella. Looking over at her friend, the younger girl gave her a small smile. However, Al was the one who actually caught her eye, because the boy was still taking little peeks over at Ella who was still acting if she hadn't noticed.

For two weeks Winry had handled this behavior between the two. It was strange to have _them _fighting, of all people, if you could even call it fighting. From what she could tell, it more or less consisted of Al bugging Ella about something and her ignoring him, that is until he would just ask one too many times and she would finally storm off, unable to bring herself to yell at him.

Winry laughed sadly; if she and Ed had been speaking she might have found the whole thing humorous and probably wouldn't have worried about them, after all this was Al and Ella. The two had started dating after knowing each other for about two weeks.

But with the pressure being as intense as it was, she had good reason to worry about anything. After all, she and Ed weren't even speaking, and who would have thought that could happen.

Still, she had tried to stay out of their business when Ella had brushed it off as nothing the few times she had asked what was going on between the two. Winry knew that if Ella was gonna tell her anything then she would come to her. But being so annoyed with her own situation, she was sick and tired of all of this stupid behavior between Al and Ella.

Sure she and Ed were having problems for unknown reasons, and she didn't know the reasons behind Al and Ella's disagreements, but they did. And since they did, they could fix it. It was possible to actually do something to make up. She was going to end up yelling at them, or worse, if they didn't figure things out soon.

Without another thought she quickly scribbled something on the paper and tossed it back to Ella.

Ella tried to catch it but with her hand eye coordination skills, she only managed to knock it away from herself and to the ground. She quickly leaned over in her desk to snatch it off the floor, however Al was quicker and he picked it up before she could and offered it to her with a little smile.

She couldn't deny that when he smiled, her stomach did a little flip and she couldn't help but grin back at him even though she wanted more than anything just to look away. She hated herself for it, but she just couldn't tell him what was wrong… yet.

Trying to distract herself from Al, she managed to finally look away and open the note to read what Winry had written to her. 'What's going on between you and Al anyways? Whatever reason it is that you are fighting, you guys should get over it, is it really that bad?'

Ella mentally cringed. She knew that if she kept acting the way she was then not only would Al be worried and annoyed with her, but so would Winry. That is, if she wasn't already.

She knew that she needed to tell Al what exactly was wrong, after all, people don't just break down into tears when their boyfriend just got beaten up… or at least she didn't think they did. She would have to ask Winry about that later.

Still, she wished that Al would just back off for a second and let her figure out what exactly she was going to say to him. Every time she would start to finally gather her thoughts, he always managed to pop up and anything and everything she had planned to tell him would fly straight out the window.

Quickly, she scribbled, 'Don't worry about it. Yeah, we are having a few problems… its kinda confusing and I think I should talk to Al before I talk to you about it. But I promise I'll tell you later.' Then as an afterthought she added, 'I just need some time to gather my thoughts before I talk to him.'

Looking up, Ella found Winry busy at work again and she bit her lip in concentration. Despite her clumsy nature, she had somehow managed to become okay at tossing notes across the room.

So she aimed, fired… and missed. Well, not really seeing as the note managed to hit Winry in the back of the head, still that wasn't exactly where she had been aiming.

Feeling something hit her, Winry turned around confused, only to find Ella half smiling and pointing to the floor where the note had landed after bouncing off the back of Winry's head. Winry had to fight to not laugh at the girl. So typical of her.

Scooping up the note she looked up to find Ed staring at her. Surprised, she just stared back.

From the blank look on his face, she could tell that he wasn't exactly conscious of what he was looking at. No, it was more like he had zoned out and happened to be looking over his shoulder at the time. But the fact that he had looked over his shoulder at all at her, gave Winry hope. It meant if nothing else he was willing to still look at her.

So without thinking, she smiled at him.

Seeing her smile, Ed freaked. So occupied with his thoughts about how Winry was doing, he hadn't realized that he had been gawking at her. He immediately whipped his head back around to his work and buried himself in it. He couldn't afford to mess up like that. If he did, who knew who might find out.

Winry sighed. So much for hope she thought as she opened Ella's note and read it disapprovingly. She quickly wrote back and tossed it to her friend, where it landed perfectly on Ella's desk.

Ella smiled at the fact that while she couldn't throw a stupid note to save her life, Winry always managed to hit her mark. It was a stupid thing to be envious of, and she knew that, but overall, she sometimes couldn't help but get the feeling that she was weaker than everyone else in their group. Eventually, she was going to have to fix that.

'Ella, I know you might need time to gather your thoughts, but think about Al, it's been like two weeks since you guys have talked normally to each other and I know he's worried about you. Hell, we all are, he just shows it a little more. Basically just try and get your thoughts together quickly because otherwise, well I'm afraid to see what might happen if you don't.'

Never before had Ella felt so guilty. She knew that hadn't been Winry's objective when she had written what she had, but all the same, she still felt the shame of the way she had been acting.

It was then that she made up her mind once and for all. She was going to tell Al everything. Despite the shame, despite the embarrassment, despite the fear, she was going to tell him everything. Why she cried so easily. Why she worried so much. Why she was constantly fearful of rejection. Why she was afraid to tell him her secret…

Looking up, she saw Winry scribbling fast on some sort of outrageous proposal and immediately knew better than to write back to her. Obviously with her last statement, Winry had meant that as the end of conversation.

Carefully Ella took the note and folded it up and cautiously put it in her pocket. While it was dumb to actually keep a note, Ella knew that having it in her pocket would be a reminder to her to talk to Al and keep the promise she had just made to herself.

When the bell suddenly rang, she couldn't help but jump a little in surprise. She frowned subconsciously. Had the whole class seriously gone by? Looking at the stack of paperwork she still had left to do, Ella mentally groaned. More than half of what she was supposed to get done today was left, meaning after school she was going to be spending some time in the Student Council room.

Sluggishly, she gathered her belongings, hoping that her last class would have some free time to get some of this ridiculous paperwork done.

"Ahem," she heard Al clear his throat in an attempt to catch her attention without startling her. He was always so sweet like that. Looking him straight in the eye, Al was taken aback for a moment surprised that Ella wasn't trying to avoid him somehow.

By this time, many of the other students had cleared the classroom already on their way to their next classes. Only Roy, Maes, and Riza remained as they seemed to be having a small private conversation of their own.

"Yeah?" Ella asked suddenly feeling shy. The way Al was looking at her, smiling brightly and so reassuringly at the same time, it made her knees feel a bit wobbly. She wondered absentmindedly if he knew the affect he had on her.

Al stumbled with his next few words, trying not to sound like he was being nosy while he really was just trying to lend a hand. "I was wondering if you might need some help on all that paperwork after school today."

Ella instantly knew that he was just trying to be helpful, but already feeling guilty about how she had been acting, she just couldn't stand to let him help her with her paperwork. Even if it was dumb. "No, I'll be fine."

"Oh, okay," Al suddenly feeling awkward and like an idiot. Without having the excuse of helping her after school, he had no legitimate reason for waiting on her after school now that Alchemy practice was on hiatus, as it had been since the attack on Ed and Winry.

"But," Ella started as Al perked up and hung onto her every word. "If you wanted you could keep me company while I did it."

Al's heart soared. At least she wasn't pushing him away, and unless his ears were deceiving him, she even sounded like she wanted him to be there. His hopes were only secured as she continued. "I need to talk to you about some things. I haven't exactly been completely truthful with you and well…" she paused looking down embarrassed and unsure. "I want to tell you everything now."

It pained Al to see how hard this was being on his girlfriend, even if he wanted to know everything.

"Ella?" he asked putting a finger under her chin and lifting it up to make her look him in the eyes. "You don't have to tell me yet if you don't want to."

"But-" she tried to protest only to have Al cut her off.

"I know I've been bugging you about it a lot lately, but seeing how uncomfortable it's making you… I don't want to pressure you into something that you don't want to do," he let his hand fall limply to his side figuring that was the end of their conversation.

Ella didn't quite agree though.

As Al had turned away from her, she had swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled him down into a fierce kiss.

It had been a week since their last kiss, a peck that had been awkward as hell, being as they were half fighting at the time. And before that, all their kisses had been relatively innocent… well at least innocent compared to this.

She hadn't planned it; she had just wanted it and therefore acted on instinct. Groaning slightly as Al deepened the kiss, pressing his lips back against hers with twice the passion, Ella realized just how much she had missed this.

"You know, both of you are going to be late to your next class if you don't hurry," Roy chimed in, causing the two to immediately break away with deep blushes.

Ella was completely mortified with herself. Sure she had meant to kiss Al, but she hadn't meant for it to become a full blown make-out session. Although she had to admit to herself that she hadn't minded too much, that is if no one had been watching.

Al on the other hand was feeling extremely embarrassed, but knowing that Mustang would always tease them no matter what the situation, he tried his best to ignore the guy. And what better way was there to ignore him, than to leave the room.

"Come on Ella, let's go," Al said smiling sweetly at her as he started to leave.

With a small skip, Ella managed to catch up and walk out the door alongside him. "And we are going to talk after school right? Even if it's hard for me."

Taking it as a sign that Ella was ready to tell him… whatever she needed to tell him, Al smiled and answered, "Of course," as he grabbed her hand.

Ella squeezed it back unable to keep from smiling, as they walked to class together in comfortable silence.

She might have been nervous about telling Al everything, but having him hold her hand like this running his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand; something told her that everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed. Sorry for taking so long to update. Hopefully I can update sooner now that I'm on spring break, but no promises since I'm going to San Antonio to see the Alamo! Woot! (Sorry I love going to historical places, that's like all my family does for vacations.)

Once again Happy Birthday Freyjadour! No more getting in trouble because you can officially be tried as an adult now, hehehe.

FFG


	42. Chapter 42 The Past

Sorry sorry sorry sorry! Honestly, I have had this chapter done for weeks, but I wanted my sis to check it out like always before I posted. Well, she's had it three weeks and still hasn't read it so I figured what the hell I'm going to update. Really I'm sorry, should have done this weeks ago. I totally get if you are mad at me.

Also, sorry for the lack of EdxWinry stuff in the last two chapters. Don't worry, next chapter has tons.

**Chapter 42**

"Well, that's at least one less couple we have to worry about," Maes commented shrugging as Al and Ella left the room hand in hand.

"Yeah, but we still have a slight problem with Ed and Winry," Riza agreed as she crossed her arms thinking deeply of some sort of plan to help the two stop fighting… or whatever they were doing.

"I wouldn't worry too much about those two," Mustang said with a smirk. It was obvious that he already had some sort of trick up his sleeve.

"I don't even want to know," Riza remarked dryly. "Although I am curious as to why exactly Ed is avoiding Winry like the plague."

Roy and Maes shared a knowing look and Riza's eyes narrowed at the two.

Ever since they had been kids those two always seemed to have secrets from her, being best friends and all. As she had grown up, she had refused to let it show that it bugged her, knowing that the majority of the time they had a secret, they were going to refuse to tell her just because it bothered her. Still, when they shared that look, to this day it still managed to get on her nerves, even if she didn't let it show… most of the time.

"Tell me what you know," she demanded in a tone that both boys knew better than to argue with. Sometimes, it was just better to give in to Riza then to tease her.

"You explain," Maes said with a wink towards his best friend trying to insinuate at what Roy should do now that he was leaving, "I'm going to go find my girlfriend before she heads home."

"Later," Riza said oblivious to Maes obvious hinting while Roy rolled his eyes at his best friend. Sadly from his friend's reaction to his implication, Hughes knew better than to think anything might happen between the two that day.

A guy could hope though. Although, he had an inkling feeling that most likely he was gonna have to get some help to get it through their thick skulls that they were practically made for each other. Like Ed and Winry, and with that thought, he left.

"So what do you know," Riza asked as she headed over to the walk in closet that more or less was a storage room for the student council.

As she pulled her coat out, Roy answered. "Come on Riza, you know it just as well as me and Hughes."

"You don't have any straight facts do you," she questioned slipping on her coat.

Damn, Riza was straight to the point. "Well no, but trust me it's pretty obvious once you realize it," Roy admitted looking pretty proud of himself.

"Just tell me Mustang," she said hoping to avoid any of Roy's games.

Unfortunately for her, "Hold your horses, I know you can figure this out Riza," he said emphasizing her name. "You just might need a couple of hints."

"Fine," Riza said playing along with him as she leaned back against the wall.

Sitting down on top of one of the desks, he began. "Have you noticed that Winry isn't the only one Ed is avoiding."

Crinkling her eyebrows as she thought back on the last few weeks, Riza realized that Mustang was correct. She hadn't noticed it being as focused as she was on Winry and Ed's relationship, but thinking back, it was true. "He hasn't been talking to anyone at school has he?" She admitted almost to herself as much as Mustang.

"Besides Al, nope," he agreed with her before he proceeded on. "And have you noticed it's not like he is mad at anyone, it's more like he is just avoiding everyone."

Riza only nodded in response deep in thought.

"Now, who did Envy solely go after?" Roy asked all knowingly.

"Ed," Riza gasped as the truth dawned upon her. "And that bastard even went as far as to use Winry against him."

"Yep," Roy said as he stuffed his fists into his jacket pockets. Taking a seat on the desk next to Riza's he continued, "I get what the kid is trying to do, but it's really dumb of him."

"I'll say," she agreed standing up. "So what's the plan."

He smirked at her. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out."

She should have guessed he was going to say something like that.

"Just don't do anything too stupid. I don't want to have to come and clean up after you," Riza responded knowing that Mustang wasn't going to tell her anything else. Already she was appalled at not realizing Ed's reasoning behind his behavior, she didn't want to beg to hear the plan Mustang had up his sleeve to fix everything.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Mustang," Riza said hoping off the desk and waving absentmindedly over her shoulder.

She hadn't expected for him to suddenly grab her hand and yank her around to face him. So when he did, she was completely flabbergasted and was practically frozen in shock. "Sorry," he said immediately releasing her trying to ignore that his heart felt like it had gone into overdrive.

"What is it Mustang?" she asked carefully.

Suddenly the image of Mustang doing to her what Al and Ella had been doing just moments ago and she felt her cheeks heat up at the idea.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted a ride home," he answered lamely. Truth be told, he didn't have an idea why he had just acted as he had. It had been instinct, although why, he didn't understand.

Sure that she would laugh at him or refuse him in some other way, he was surprised with her answer. "Sure."

With no more and no less she agreed to let him take her home. Somehow though, it all seemed like a lot more to both of them.

* * *

The last class of the school day passed quickly and soon enough, Al and Ella found themselves walking back towards the student council room once again hand in hand as they chatted about little nothings.

After walking into the empty classroom, silence greeted them.

Neither knew how to start.

While Ella wanted to just jump in and start explaining, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach and even was debating about putting it off longer. Looking up at Al, she could see his discomfort at the situation.

He was curious and wanted to know, but he also wanted to be there for Ella, through the good and the bad. Perhaps, he just wanted for her to trust him enough to tell him something she seemed ashamed of.

But if it was going to hurt her, well he had no problem now with waiting. Sure, he had told her that after Student Council, but he just couldn't help but think that Ella was ignoring what he said earlier and jumping into something she wasn't ready to do.

"Al?" she asked tightening her grip on his hand as she stared at her shoes.

"Yeah?" he mumbled looking down at her concerned.

"I need to start talking before I change my mind," she admitted peeking up at him.

"Ella, you really don't have to do this," Al immediately retorted hating to put her through any sort of discomfort.

"Yes I do," Ella said surprisingly stern. Noticing her tone, she quickly added, "I'm sorry for yelling, I just know that I should, no, I **need** to tell you. It would be wrong for me not too. I just…" sighing, she promptly collapsed in one of the desks.

Al silently took the seat next to her and started rubbing her back with small circles in an effort to calm her down.

As it began working, she began talking again. "I just don't know where to start," she said sheepishly.

"How about at the beginning," Al answered back encouragingly.

Taking a deep breath, she dove in. "I guess it started back before I was born when my Mom and Dad started going out."

Smiling she continued on. "They met in college, and apparently it was love at first sight. Everyone said they were perfect for each other. Everything was perfect so to speak," her face fell, "Until that one night."

Involuntarily she leaned into Al's hand seeking any comfort that she could get. "My Mom's best friend from high school had just died in a car crash and Mom was terribly depressed. So basically she had gone to a bar with my Dad to get drunk. Well, one thing led to another and before they knew it, they were waking up in a hotel room with no clothes on."

Al raised his eyebrows in response surprised. After all, he had talked to Miss Mathews many times and she didn't really seem like the type for that to happen to, but he chose to keep his mouth shut and just let Ella carry on. After all, this was hard enough for her without him prying any farther.

"Soon enough they found out that, well, I was gonna be born." She looked up at Al in the eyes catching him off guard. "Do you know what my Dad's response to finding out about me?"

Seeing Ella's eyes begin to water, Al could feel a lump in his throat and dreaded her response as he shook his head no. "Get rid of it! The thing can only cause problems for us!"

Her voice cracked and she swiftly clenched her teeth in an effort to keep herself from crying. However, Al wasn't going to have any of that, and he jumped out of his desk and pulled her into his arms as he took a seat on the floor holding her as close as he could. It wasn't much longer before she let it out, crying on Al's shoulder and hugging him tightly around the neck.

Not knowing what else to do, he simply tightened his hold on her and rubbed little circles on her back as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear, trying as best as he could to calm her down even if it was just slightly.

"My Dad wanted to kill me Al, he thought I was a worthless piece of shit," Ella cried slightly muffled into Al's shoulder.

"Shhh, he's gone now don't worry about him," Al whispered in her ear.

"But that's the problem Al," she admitted half hysterical. "My Mom still loves him, and I think I do too, although for the life of me I don't know why," and with that she buried her face in her hands, too ashamed to even cry on Al's shoulders.

Needless to say, Al was taken back slightly by her statement, but thinking back to his own parents he understood. "Ella," he said quietly to keep from startling her. "I think I understand," and before she could question how, he continued.

"When me and Ed were really little our Dad had some… problems." Ella nodded as she wiped at her eyes. "For a while he got this idea in his head that he was no good for Mom and kinda just left us. Ed's never really forgiven him for it, but all the same, we both still loved him."

He looked up into Ella's eyes. "I know that it's not exactly the same as your situation, but it's similar so I thought…" he trailed off not exactly sure what to really say.

Yet, looking up at Ella, he found that she was smiling at him, even with tears still streaming down her face and red eyes. "I get it," she said.

"Good," Al smiled back, "I have a feeling there is more, want to talk about it."

Closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder, Ella continued. "So, basically my Mom told him no and he left her not caring enough to stick around. Naturally my Mom was heartbroken. For a while, she won't admit this, but she was almost debating about suicide."

She sat back to look at Al and see his reactions as she spoke. "I mean, first your best friend from childhood dies in a freak accident, then you get pregnant, and finally your longtime boyfriend breaks up with you, it's pretty natural that she was as depressed as she was."

Al frowned though, "What?" she asked partially afraid.

"Nothing" Al said shaking his head as he motioned for her to continue.

Ella wasn't going to though, "What was it Al, I want to know what you are thinking, and if you don't tell me, you know me. I'll make it a lot worse than it probably is," she said trying to smile at him.

Al's smile faded slightly as he tried to word his sentence as nicely as possible knowing he was walking on eggshells. "I just don't think it's very like you're Mom to think about killing herself when she was pregnant."

Surprisingly, Ella giggled, even with her eyes full of tears. "That's why she didn't silly. She couldn't bring herself to kill me, even though she just wanted to die. She even thought about killing herself after she had me, but somehow couldn't bring herself to abandon me like that."

Leaning her forehead against Al's, the two smiled at each other despite the lingering tears in Ella's eyes. "Is that where the story ends?" Al asked.

Ella closed her eyes tightly squeezing a lone tear out of her eye. "Sadly no," she answered leaning back and remembering what came next.

"Ella," Al said as comforting as possible, "We can stop for today and talk about this later if you want," he offered.

"No," she refused again, "I need for you to understand why I am the way I am. Why I kinda have abandonment issues."

Al nodded, although he couldn't see them so much as issues, more just like she tended to overreact at times which he found a bit endearing.

"So, when I was about ten, my father found me and my Mom." Once again, Ella squeezed her eyes shut with the pain of the memories. "He **said **that he was sorry, and that he wanted to make it up to us. He wanted to be my father and be my Mom's husband."

Ella rested her head on Al's shoulder once again, "This was before I knew about he had felt originally about me. I found that out on my own a year later when I read one of my Mom's old diaries."

She leaned back quickly, wide-eyed, realizing what she had just said, "Not that I go around reading diaries, I just had been curious as to what it was and thought it was one of my Mom's college friends. I didn't know till it was too late whose it had been," she defended.

"It's okay Ella," Al said lightly stroking her cheek. "I know you, and I know you wouldn't do something like that."

"Good," she answered leaning into his touch while bringing her hand up to hold his on her face. Of all the things she could think that calmed her down, this had to be her favorite.

"But," Al started, catching her immediate attention, "does that mean you found out about your Father's original feelings while he was around?"

"No," she admitted sadly, "he didn't last that long. After six months he was tired of both me and my Mom. My Mom begged him to stay. I just remember him standing at the end of our driveway with his bags and looking past my Mom, staring at me and saying, 'It's just not worth it.'"

Al immediately grabbed Ella fiercely holding her close as tears poured out of her eyes again. Like before, he just rocked her gently in his lap, soothing her as best as he knew how. "Mom doesn't know that he was looking at me that day. She thought I was still inside," she cried letting her tears be soaked up by Al's shirt.

"The man wasn't good enough for you anyway," Al said tightening his hold on her, if it was possible at this point.

For a while, he just let her cry though. This was just one of those things that she needed to cry out. There wasn't anything else that would or could make her feel better.

Eventually, the flood of tears slowed to a small stream and eventually became dry with only Ella's puffy red eyes and hiccups as evidence of her weeping. "I'm sorry," she whispered still clutching tightly on to Al.

Grabbing her shoulders, he pushed her back, under a firm hold, just enough to look her in the eye and say, "Don't be. I would rather you tell me this kind of thing than keep it from me." Wiping away a stray tear on her cheek he added, "I don't care how much you cry, I want to be here when you do."

And with that, he placed a small kiss on her lips and leaned back waiting her reaction.

Her eyes were still closed from the kiss and she hiccupped a little from crying, but a peaceful smile graced her lips as her eyes fluttered opened. "I'm sleepy," she simply said.

Al chuckled. "Well, crying tends to do that. Let's just give up on working the rest of today, we can just go home and work late tomorrow. That sound good?"

"Um hm," Ella purred slipping off of Al's lap and standing up grabbing the top of a desk to do so.

Al stood up as well and swiftly took her hand in his smiling down at her. And for the second time that day they walked out of the Student council room hand in hand.

* * *

Not where I originally planned on ending the chapter, but I figured it worked pretty well and I didn't want to force anything.

The thing about being sleepy after crying is very true for me. That always happens, (although I don't really cry too often cause I hate it.)

Hope that Ella's background makes sense and helps explain why she freaks out a little at times. She's basically tends to think that people don't love her enough to stay with her because of the way her father treated her. I hope it was believable even if it was farfetched.

Thanks for reading and/or reviewing.

FFG


	43. Chapter 43 The Plan Part 1

If my calculations are correct, there should only be a total of 45 chapters in this fic. Therefore, we are at the end folks. But no fear cause I will be writing a sequel, although I'm sorry to say that it will be a while before I start because I have some other things I need to write and finish first.

For some reason I'm bothered by this chapter. Seems a bit random and cliché to me and I never like that. Although next chapter I explain the clichénesss of this one so if you are bothered by that too hopefully next chapter's explanation will help.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 43**

Al and Ella walked into the school holding hands, just like they had the last week. Ever since she had finally explained to him about her past, they had been closer than ever. For a while there, they had been having a hard time communicating anything because of the tension between them, now they had no secrets.

Well, Al had one, but Ella understood why her boyfriend was hiding something from her, because he had explained his situation.

"Do you know why Ed is avoiding Winry?" she had asked the night after they had made out up.

Al's head had been resting in Ella's lap as the two talked, and as much as he hated it, he turned away from Ella, because he was unable to look her in the eye and answer. "I know why, but I can't tell you. It's Ed's business and frankly he's being an idiot."

Of course, Ella had understood. She realized that Ed had told Al what his deal was under the understanding that he wasn't to tell anyone else, and Al wasn't the type to misplace such trust.

So the two of them had basically proceeded to keep away from the subject, although Al did vent to Ella how stupid his brother was being and how he needed to just get over it. Even not knowing what was wrong with Ed, Ella couldn't help but agree.

"Ella! Al!" Mustang yelled effectively catching their attention.

He jogged up to them with Maes close behind, smiling like always. "I was hoping to catch you two before school," Roy said smirking. "Oh and Ella, I'm so sorry about your past."

"Yeah, it's a truly heartbreaking story," Hughes agreed giving a small smile of concern.

She blushed and gripped Al's hand a little tighter. After she had told Al about her past, she had gone on to explain to Winry the next day since she had promised to. Winry hadn't been able to hold back tears at hearing the heartbreaking tale and while she had cried Ella had held Al's hand hoping that it would bring enough comfort to keep herself from tearing up.

The others had then noticed how Al's and her relationship had suddenly been amended and how much closer Winry had gotten to her and they were curious. Being unable to deny anyone now that she had told Al, Ella had decided to explain to everyone one by one as they asked.

Talking about it had been hard at first, but she found that with Al at her side, it was bearable, and actually managed to get easier each time she explained. Curiously she wondered if she should have told people earlier.

After talking about it, she then only had to worry about everyone's response to the news. She was frightened that they would be sympathetic and feel bad for her treating her as if she was breakable, something she didn't want. She just wanted them to understand and treat her the same way they always had.

Thankfully, none had acted any differently, for the most part. Sure everyone in the student council room had been surprised, considering she was happy so much of the time, and they had treated her a little more cautiously at first, but after a couple days, everything was pretty much back to normal.

Still, there was one person who didn't know anything about Ella's past. Ed.

She had tried to catch him and tell him a few days after telling Al and then Winry, but every time she approached him, he managed to disappear. At first, she had excused it as coincidence. But after he had practically run away from her when she had called out his name, she knew that something was up with him, more so than originally thought.

Ella had then gone on to ask Al to tell Ed for her, but he had refused saying that first off it was her past to tell, and he had no right. And secondly, Ed didn't deserve to know when he was acting like such an ass.

Thus, Ed remained in the dark.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm okay," she said proud that for the first time her throat wasn't closing up at the mention of her past.

"Well that's good because we need you for something," Mustang admitted.

When Al and Ella only answered with confused expressions, he continued. "We've come up with a plan to get Ed and Winry talking again."

"We figure that if anyone is going to be able to knock some sense into Ed, it will be Winry. No offense Al, but Ed probably would listen to you, eventually. But the problem is there is only a couple months left of school and we need him to listen now," Maes added.

Al nodded knowing that they were right and while often he was the voice of reason in his big brother's life, there were times that he needed someone to just kick some reasoning into him, and he probably wasn't the best person for that job.

"What do you want us to do?" Al asked as Ella nodded ready to do practically anything to get Ed back to normal.

* * *

"Winry!" Ella called out the moment her friend walked into the Student Council room for class.

"Yeah Ella?" Winry questioned as the brunette bounded over to where she was standing in the doorway almost tripping over a chair or two in the process.

"I have something really special to show you," Ella said with enthusiasm. She didn't know what she was saying; she just knew where she was supposed to lead Winry. It was all part of Mustang's plan.

The plan he had told Al and her that it would be better if they didn't know the whole thing and just knew the part they were playing. That meant it was probably something she didn't agree with. But she trusted Roy, or trusted him enough to let him try out his plan. He wouldn't actually hurt anyone… right?

Perhaps it was better to just not think about it.

"Come on I got permission from Mustang to show you before we started our paperwork for the day," Ella lied, well half lied. After all, she had gotten permission from Mustang, heck he had asked her to do this.

"Alright alright," Winry laughed. "Just let me put down my stuff before we go."

"Okay," Ella sort of squealed as her boyfriend walked in the door.

Winry quickly set down her stuff and looked back up to find Al and Ella sharing a relatively innocent kiss. She sighed seeing the two of them so happy together. She could hardly believe that about a week ago they had been having any problems.

She couldn't control it as her eyes shifted to look at Ed's empty desk. It wasn't the only one, Breada, Havoc, Fuery, Falman, Armstrong, and Maes desks were all empty as well. But the reasoning behind Ed's was different.

Now a days he would show up barely a second before the bell and would duck out of class the moment it was over. There was never a chance for her to try and talk to him anymore.

Disappointed, she walked back over to Ella who was looking a little flustered after that last kiss she and Al had shared. "Bye," she said almost shyly as she looped her arm through Winry's and pulled the older girl out into the hall.

"I see that things between you and Al have drastically improved," Winry teased her.

Ella blushed heavily but smiled brightly. "Yeah, he's been really great lately. I don't know how I would have been able to tell everyone about, you know, without him there," she admitted still smiling.

Winry sighed, accidentally, and Ella realized her mistake. "Don't worry Winry. I'm sure things between you and Ed will work out soon."

"Yeah," Winry said obviously not believing it. "So what did you have to show me?" she asked trying to change the subject. "And where are we going?"

"Just somewhere," Ella tried to cover up her lie with mysteriousness.

"Oookay," Winry answered shaking her head at the younger girl.

Suddenly Ella stopped, partially yanking Winry's arm as she kept walking. "What is it?" Winry asked concerned at Ella's abrupt stop.

"You have to wait here for the surprise," Ella said nervously. Another part of the plan she didn't know.

"Right here?" Winry asked confused. She looked around at her surroundings, a bathroom, a couple of empty art classrooms and a janitor's closet? "Why here?"

Ella said the first thing that came to mind, "Cause I have to go to the restroom."

For a moment Winry was silent, and Ella worried that she had seen through her lie. Then Winry broke out in laughter. "Go to the bathroom," she said between laughs. Sometimes Ella was just plain weird in her opinion.

"Okay," and with that she bounded into the bathroom unsure of how long this would work, after all, Winry might decide to come in after her and then she wouldn't have any idea of what to do.

Meanwhile, Winry was standing in the hallway leaning against the wall by the janitor's closet on her right arm. She sighed hating moments like these. When she was with someone, like Ella just now, she could manage to forget all the worries she had. But whenever she was alone, there was no avoiding them.

She let her head gently rest against the cool wall and she closed her eyes exasperated. Why couldn't anything ever be simple for her? Why couldn't… things just work out for once?

"I'm very sorry Winry," she suddenly heard someone say before feeling her hands grabbed and pulled behind her back and a handkerchief was pulled into her mouth and around the back of her head.

Winry's immediate instincts jumped in, and she quickly pulled her head back trying to get the material out of her mouth so that she might scream. However, her attackers, she could hear more than one voice and surprisingly they all seemed vaguely familiar, were too quick for her and managed to get her wrists tied behind her back and her gag on firmly before having too much trouble.

Hell if she was gonna give into these people without a fight, and even without her hands, she managed to put up one. Kicking and throwing her body all over the place, she closed her eyes on instinct trying to just get away from them.

"Geez, can't you guys tie up one girl," a voice said that she immediately recognized. Maes?

"Oh come on, this is Winry we are talking about, not just some girl," a guy said. It couldn't be Breada!

"I have to agree," another smaller voice said. No way in hell Fury was in on it too!

Feeling a rope tangle around her ankles, Winry kicked trying to get away from such constraints. However, it didn't quite work out the way she wanted it to because next thing she knew, she was falling back.

But instead of hitting the hard ground, two arms managed to catch her, and when she opened her eyes she just stared in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Miss Rockbell but this is for you and Ed's own good," Armstrong said as he held her in his arms well off the floor, and all around them were other members of the student council. Breada, Fury, Falman, and Hughes!

This was just ridiculous.

If she hadn't been so stunned, she might have remembered to keep moving, after all these were her attackers, even if they were her classmates as well. As it was, she gave them no more difficulty as they quickly tied up her ankles and then moved to tie a blindfold over her eyes.

The moment things went black; she realized her mistake and began fighting back once again. Too bad it was too late.

Next thing she knew, she heard a door open and she was set gently on the floor. "Don't worry Winry, someone will be back to get you shortly," Maes said and even with the blindfold on, Winry could tell that he was smiling.

Hearing the door shut and feeling that she was alone, she immediately started struggling with her bonds. What the hell was going on here?!

Getting attacked in the hallway, by her peers none the less! Being tied up and blindfolded, why blindfold her; she had already seen them all! And finally being thrown in what she could only assume was the janitor's closet! Plain ridiculous!

She continued to struggle with her ties, relying on the one person who might be able to get her out of this mess. Ella.

The girl had gone to the bathroom but she would come back and that's when she would thrash around and hope to make enough noise for Ella to hear her and hopefully figure out just where she was.

"Ella!" Winry heard Hughes greet closer than she had expected. He was still outside the door? In fact, it sounded as if he was leaning against it.

"Hey Hughes. Where's Winry?" Ella asked looking around in the hallway, or that's at least what Winry imagined her doing.

In the meantime, the girl in the closet tried her hardest to make some type of noise. Anything. She could only hope that there was nothing potentially dangerous in her vicinity or she was screwed.

"Don't worry about her Ella," she heard Hughes say as she kicked her heels against the ground as hard as she could, only to bruise them. Stupid carpet!

"It's all part of the plan." Winry froze. What?

"Well, I guess it's okay then," Ella said sounding unsure.

Winry could hardly believe what she was hearing. Ella was in on it too!

"Just don't do anything too bad," she suddenly heard Ella's soft voice say insistently.

Maes chuckled. "Don't worry, they'll be thanking us for this by the time it's over."

Winry could only wonder exactly what Hughes meant by that. Realizing that it was silent outside in the hallway, Winry mentally cursed. Had they really just left her here?! Asses!

* * *

After what seemed like hours of struggling, though it probably had only been ten minutes, Winry realized it was no use. The boys had tied her hands and feet well, and without her eyesight there wasn't a chance of her being able to slip out of her bonds. Perhaps that was why they had blindfolded her.

If she could have, Winry would have screamed with frustration.

What the hell was going on here?!

Suddenly hearing voices outside, Winry began thrashing around once again trying to make as much noise as possible which sadly wasn't that much. Listening as she struggled, she managed to hear both Al and Mustang's voices and mentally cursed.

If Ella had been pulled into such a trick on her, than obviously Al would have been part of it too. Plus, there was no doubt in her mind that Mustang was the ringleader of such a drastic plan.

"Go away Bastard."

Winry froze. It couldn't be…

"Fine fine, I'll leave you two brothers alone, just make sure he get's his gift okay Al," Mustang said before walking away.

"Okay," Al responded cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Winry's mind was racing. Brothers- that meant Al… and Ed.

Silence filled the hallway now that Mustang had left and the voice she wanted to hear broke it.

"I hate that Bastard," Ed said. She could practically hear him clenching his fists in fury.

"I know brother, but he does mean well," Al added.

"How can that pompous overconfident spoiled rotten good for nothing-"

"Brother!" Al interrupted with a small yell. Winry could plainly hear as Ed huffed but closed his mouth to keep any more insults from popping out.

"What was it anyway that he wanted you to show me," Ed asked sharply, still annoyed.

Al paused. Winry already knew what he was debating, if whether or not he was going to actually go through this plan of Mustangs. She could only hope that no matter what Al decided to do, that she would be helped out of these bonds sometime soon. As it was, she was pretty sure that she had some rope burns around her wrists that were beginning to sting with every movement she made.

"It's in here," Al said as she heard the door handle jiggle a bit as if it was being unlocked.

Winry may not have been able to speak or see, but she could only imagine Ed's reaction to her being like this, complete shock. Then he would probably make Al help her.

"Winry," she heard him say quite breathlessly, and before she knew it she heard someone scramble right up next to her and begin pulling at her ropes. "Damn it Winry how the hell did you get tied up!"

She could have cried right then. Ed was helping her.

Ed! As in the boy who had been ignoring her for weeks. He was talking to her! And damn it all, he sounded actually worried about her.

"Al get in here and help me!" Ed shouted over his shoulder at his brother. She could have laughed. Ed seemed so flustered by her predicament he didn't even seem to remember he could just use Alchemy to untie her and instead fumbled with the ropes with shaky fingers.

"I'm sorry brother, but this is for your own good," Al said before slamming the door shut and a small click was heard as he locked it.

Ed froze before staring back and forth between Winry and the now locked door. He tried compromising.

Still scrabbling with Winry's binds, he yelled as his brother from where he was. "Al, I can just use Alchemy to get out of this closet whether or not you locked the door!"

Al didn't seem fazed in the least. "You need to talk to Winry Brother, and I'm here to make sure that you do that. Don't think you can get out using Alchemy because I'll just put you right back in there."

Hearing Ed sigh frustration, Winry's heart felt as if it had been stabbed straight through. Did he really want to avoid talking to her that badly? "Face it brother," she heard Al continue, "You aren't coming out till you've talked to Winry and worked everything out."

Ed mumbled something under his breath about damn cocky bastards and getting kids to do his dirty work, before he finally managed to free Winry's wrists. She immediately began rubbing them trying to get the blood flow to pulse through her veins once again at a normal pace. She made no effort to untie her gag or blindfold, somehow she wasn't sure if she was going to like what she would see.

Hearing Ed was bad enough, to see how mad he was at their current predicament. Figuring he would move on to untie her ankles, she was surprised when she suddenly felt Ed's fingers touch her cheek.

She stilled under his gentle touch. His fingertips barely making contact as they danced across her skin so lightly that she wondered if this was all a dream. And then her gag was swiftly gone as if it had been cut and his fingers were moving against her face once again, only to rest for a moment on her lips.

Resisting the urge to kiss his fingertips as her arms shook from a mix of excitement and nervousness, she let a gasp fall from her mouth and only one word escaped, "Ed."

He froze, and it was as if he suddenly realized just what he had been doing. How he had been feeling rather than thinking; and in an instant Ed was back to his normal logical self.

He slipped his fingers under her blindfold gently but not with the same passion, dare she say, as before. Instead he lifted it up revealing her large sapphire eyes looking directly into his golden ones. "Hey," he said nonchalantly, although she knew it was anything but.

In an instant she was holding on to him like there was no tomorrow as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Perhaps she was being overly dramatic, but she had missed him. She had missed her best friend or maybe he was even more.

"Winry are you okay," Ed asked his voice slightly shaky.

She only held on to him tighter. "I think so now," she admitted hoping not to sound too cheesy, but it was the truth, and he deserved to know it.

"Good," he replied as his arms suddenly snaked around her waist sending shivers up her spine. She had forgotten just how good this always felt.

But Winry was never one to just forgive that easily, despite wanting to just forget about what had occurred between her and Ed the last couple of weeks, she was not going to be able to. Pulling away and looking at him directly in the eyes she said the most dreaded sentence of mankind.

"Ed… we need to talk."

* * *

So I totally know this is an overly cliché idea but I actually have different reasons for using it that will be explained next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy the EdxWinry fluff, goodness knows I haven't had enough of it the last few chapters. Sorry bout that.

I'm officially on summer break now though so hopefully I will be better about updating. One can only hope.

FFG


	44. Chapter 44 The Plan Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

**Chapter 44**

"You did what!" Riza demanded eyes ablaze.

"We locked them in a closet together after tying up Winry," Mustang replied back trying to keep his cool. When Riza was in this kind of mood, the best thing to do tended to be avoid her, but someone had to explain to her why none of the student council members were coming to class that day.

"You do realize that is the dumbest, idiotic, stupid, and most cliché thing that you could have done to them!"

He had to bite back a sarcastic reply, "It's all part of the plan."

"The plan to get them back together, to get Ed speaking to us all again?!" Yep, she was definitely pissed. "Not to mention that no paperwork is going to get done today!"

"Riza, breathe!" he chuckled clasping his hands down on her shoulders. "And yes, it's all part of the plan."

Riza just shook her head. A killer headache was throbbing and there was nothing more she felt like doing but sleeping, but no, she had to deal with this idiot. "Do you honestly think that just shoving them in a closet together will make everything better."

"Nope, only time will do that," he simply answered smirking at her as he let go and walked over to the classroom window.

She followed watching him warily the whole way.

"You want to know why we did it then," Roy said still staring out the window.

"That would be nice," Riza answered dryly.

Turning around so that now his back was resting on the window, Mustang looked straight into Riza's eyes not letting her intimidate him… much. "We don't have time. Once summer hits, it'll be too easy for Ed to ignore everyone completely and after a couple months like that, too much damage will be done."

Riza shook her head in agreement. "Not to mention that most of us will be graduating so it's not even like we have next school year to figure out this situation."

"Exactly," Mustang grinned, he liked that Riza always kept up and more often than not she could figure out why he did what he did before he had to explain. "So now you're wondering why the closet?" Plus, she was fun to tease.

She shot him a glare telling him silently to stop being so cocky, Mustang coughed once and continued. "It's not the act of putting them in close quarters that's going to get Ed to figure out he's being an ass, it's the fact that it puts him and Winry on the same side. Granted, it's against all of us, but it'll work out in the end I'm sure."

"Then why did you tie her up?"

Mustang looked back out the window as if expecting something. "Because, then he has to "save her," and at the same time it'll make him realize that just because he isn't around Winry, doesn't mean she won't get in trouble sometimes. Though I'm sure that she can hold her own most of the time."

Silence filled the room and Mustang smirked slightly knowing that he had just won and Riza wasn't _too_ mad. Suddenly, she joined him by the window, "So what are you watching for?" she asked trying not to sound too curious.

Outside there was a sudden bright flash of light and Roy grinned, "That," he said watching as a hole suddenly appeared in the school's wall and Ed quickly jumped out of it.

* * *

"Ed… we need to talk."

Ed immediately froze stiff in dread. He didn't want to talk. Talking wouldn't help their situation anymore, it was beyond help and that's the way it was gonna stay. He couldn't afford to even really be talking to her right now.

"Yeah, we gotta figure a way out of this closet," he glared at the door as he stood up, "A way Al doesn't know."

"That's not what I meant Ed," Winry immediately protested as she felt her heartbeat finally start to return to normal, now that Ed wasn't touching her.

"Look, we'll talk, but I don't want Al overhearing us," Ed said knowing full well that the moment they were out he had no intention of following through.

"Liar," Winry sighed. "But we'll do it your way anyway."

Just like her, she was mad and yet still trying to help him, trying to understand him. God, she was perfect, he mused forcing himself to not look at her. If he did, he might give in. Might try to go back to her, might put her in danger…again.

"Well, I can make a door with Alchemy, but which wall would be the best for it, who knows if that bastard put guards in the rooms next door. This whole scheme just screams Mustang."

"Actually, they all had to do with it. Hughes, Falman, Fury, Armstrong, even Ella," Winry told him standing up and shaking out her legs. Who would have thought such a short amount of time would cramp them up so much.

"Really, Ella helped too?" Ed said looking at her for the first time in disbelief.

Their eyes caught making things awkward, but neither would look away. "Yeah, she was the one who lead me here, though I don't think she knew the entire plan."

Ed half smirked finally tearing his eyes away from hers. "Sounds like her, she wouldn't agree to locking people in closets probably."

"How would you know, you don't even know her," Winry couldn't help but say suddenly feeling all the anger at Ed she had been bottling up for weeks start bubbling over.

"What's that supposed to mean," Ed immediately snapped back. It wasn't as if he was happy with this situation, but the farther he put himself from everyone, the more likely they weren't going to get hurt. It was that simple. If he could he would have stopped talking to his own brother, too bad it seemed that Envy had a thing against their dad so it wasn't like he could protect Al too.

"Nothing," she said crossing her arms and turning away obviously angry. "You just haven't been around lately… but enough about that, let's just get out of here."

She was frustrated, in the least, and Ed found that he didn't like it. He didn't want her to be mad; he wanted her to be her normal self. But he should have known that she wouldn't be, at least not with him of all people.

"I happen to know that the back of this closet leads out to the side of the school, so if you make a door here, we should be able to escape this stupid closet," Winry said with her voice practically dripping with malice.

Refusing once again to look at her, Ed walked toward the back of the closet, moved several of the janitor's supplies out of the way, and clapped before slamming his hands down on the floor. A bright flash quickly followed and in an instant there was a small archway in the wall opening up to outside.

He couldn't help but smirk slightly at Winry before jumping out into the fresh air. His plan had been to get out and then leave, get away from Winry as soon as possible, but now that he was out, he found that he couldn't just leave her.

Not understanding why, he turned around and held out a hand to help Winry down, after all, the school was set in a way that there was a small drop from the rooms to outside. Although, it wasn't enough to be a big deal and Winry could have easily jumped down without Ed's help.

Thus, when his hand was suddenly there for her to take, it confused her. Somehow, the action of taking it and letting him help her, especially when she didn't need it, it seemed like more than just him being nice. She hesitated.

He saw the indecision in Winry's eyes. She didn't trust him anymore, he'd done it. He had managed to distance himself enough to the point that she didn't want to have to do anything with him. So why if he had gotten what he had wanted, did it hurt so much? He started to pull his hand away.

Suddenly, she practically lunged for his hand. He may have gotten away once, but he wasn't going to again.

However, Ed didn't expect it, so the sudden weight on his hand wasn't supported and he was barely able to catch Winry before she really fell. Instead she just stumbled right into his chest one hand on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her and his hand lightly touched the small of her back, and their other hands… still intertwined.

Strangely, neither of them moved.

Winry knew that she should push away from Ed, but in his arms, it just felt too damn good. Ed meanwhile was trying to let go but he couldn't. With Winry here, in his arms, he felt complete. He felt like she was safe, at least for the time being.

"You okay?" slipped out of his mouth breathlessly.

She looked up and tried to get her feet under her, "Yeah, just stumbled a bit."

"I could see that."

They continued to stare. Bright blue confused eyes at amber ones that were glazed over. Slowly, she felt Ed's hand move up her back making her tense and grip his hand harder. He didn't seem to notice though as his hand made its way to first her neck and then lightly upon her cheek.

Tears welled in her eyes though she wouldn't allow any to spill over. She wouldn't let him know just how much having him close meant to her. It was embarrassing and not to mention, plain ridiculous.

However, she did allow her hand that had been resting on his shoulder to let go and instead cup his hand that touched her face. She didn't want him to pull away; she wanted him to stay right there as long as she could keep him there.

Feeling her hand trap his touching her face, didn't quite have the desired effect though. Waking from his daze, Ed swiftly pulled away ripping his hand out of hers. "Goodbye Winry," he said turning and walking away.

Winry felt as if she had just been slapped. He was leaving again. Her hand clenched, "Why!" she called out after him as a tear finally made its way down her face.

He didn't say a word and just continued walking away refusing to turn around, refusing to acknowledge her existence.

She stormed right after him. "Why are you doing this Ed!" More tears streamed over and her throat burned.

He sped up. But then, so did she.

"Stop it Ed!" she was practically sobbing and her voice cracked. "Stop running from me! Stop ignoring me! Stop hurting me!" she screamed steadily picking up the pace.

Feeling something in her pocket beating lightly against her leg, she looked down to fine her wrench sitting in her pocket. She remembered suddenly how just that morning she had slipped it there after her Mechanics class feeling too lazy to put it up. Something she would have liked to known a lot earlier when she had been shoved in a closet, but now it was going to work out to advantage that she hadn't. Whipping it out, she chunked it at Ed. She didn't even aim, her eyes were too blurry with tears.

Thankfully, her wrench hit its mark and slammed into the back of Ed's head with enough force that he immediately stumbled slightly and turned around in a slight daze.

Seeing as the wrench had bounced slightly off his head, Winry ran at full speed and scooped it up before running at Ed ready to hit him again. She didn't know what she was doing, only that if Ed was unconscious then he couldn't run away. Any sensibility was thrown out the window.

While Ed was slightly out of it from the first hit and probably wouldn't have been able to dodge another throw by Winry's wrench, he most certainly could dodge Winry charging him brandishing a wrench for a weapon.

Just as she brought her arm down, he reached up his, catching her right wrist in his hand and her left elbow in his other. Of course, neither of them had comprehended how their actions would bring their faces so close.

In an instant, all hostility was gone and only confusion and pain stood in its wake.

Winry couldn't help but feel like a fool as she lost her will and let her wrench fall to the grass with a small thump. "Please."

Ed's teeth clenched as he slowly lightened his grip on Winry and took a step back as he lowered their arms. "It's for your own good." He took another step back and his automail hand slid to hold her other wrist just like the other.

"People get hurt around me," he took another step back and his hands slipped into hers. She was letting the tears flow freely by this point and he had to stare at her hands, being held in his own, in order to keep going.

"I don't want you to get hurt, I won't let it. Goodbye Winry," and with that he gave her hands a quick squeeze and let go taking another step back. He would turn around and leave and never talk to her again. It hurt, but it would hurt more if she was hurt because of him.

But just as his fingertips grazed her own, Winry took a step forward and clasped his hands in hers tightly. "No," she said looking up at him in the eyes.

"Don't I get a say in the matter?" she asked. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks, but no longer did she look completely helpless. No, she almost looked happy. She didn't let him answer before moving on. "What did I tell you earlier this year, back when you were worried about the bills and wouldn't let me help?"

Ed thought back, that had been months ago, but he could still remember it as if it was yesterday. "That you'll always be there for me whether I need it or not."

"That also goes for whether you want it or not," she choked up before flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him as if there was no tomorrow. "You can try to get rid of me all you want, but I'm never going to stop being a part of your life Ed," she mumbled into his neck holding on for dear life.

At first Ed did nothing, completely torn on what to do in this sort of situation. On one hand, being friends with Winry could put her in a world of trouble. But he knew how stubborn Winry could be, and if she said she wasn't going to stop being his friend then she wasn't, a fact that he couldn't kept a grin off his face just thinking about.

Slowly, he let his arms wrap around her and pull her close. Maybe he had this whole thing wrong anyway, maybe it would be better to keep her as close as possible and protect her when he could. After all, if his own classmates had managed to take her by surprise and tie her up and shove her in a closet, well anything like that could happen to her.

"Fine, we'll do it your way."

* * *

Watching the two run back inside the building hand in hand, Mustang smirked at Riza who looked as thoughtful as ever.

"You think they are back together?" she asked concerned while taking a peek at Roy.

"Probably not, that'll take more time. But this was definitely the first step towards that."

* * *

Woot! I definitely wrote this over the past three days and am pretty damn proud of it for such a short time for me. Feels kinda rushed, but that just might be me. Let me know if it is, I'll see what I can do to fix that.

Sadly I must inform everyone that this fic is drawing to a close. Unless my plans change, next chapter should be the last chapter. Seeing as I'm so close to finishing up my first epic fic, I should be posting the next and last chapter much sooner.

Sequel! There should be one. However, it will probably be a while before it comes out, and it will be much much much shorter. Think like 10ish chapters or something. I haven't planned enough to tell you guys the exact amount, but it will be much shorter. I'll tell you the title at the end of the last chapter.

Keep writing and thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

FFG


	45. Chapter 45 Finally, The End

Finally, we are here at last, the last chapter! Amazing, simply amazing. Before you start reading I figured I should thank a few people here.

My sister, she was the first to ever encourage me to write and while it wasn't for fanfiction, without her I never would have gotten to where I am now and loving writing so much. Plus, she was my editor for this fic for quite some time, eventually she got too busy but that was okay cause I really needed to learn how to catch my own mistakes anyway.

And secondly, you reviewers and readers. You guys seriously made these last two years with all your wonderful feedback. I've cherished each and every one of your reviews and thank you profusely for them all.

I'm sad because chapter one of FMHS definitely was the first thing I ever wrote (You can tell by how pitiful it is, hehehe) and now it will be over. So, no more waiting, here is the final chapter of FMHS. Enjoy!

**Chapter 45**

Weeks passed and eventually everything went back to normal. At first, things were a tad awkward suddenly having Ed back and goofing around with everyone, but in the end it was the same old Ed and everyone quickly got over any discomfort with the situation.

When Ed found out about Ella's past and how he hadn't been there for her when she needed her friends the most, there was a small relapse back into uncomfortable moments and long apologies. But thankfully, Ella bared no grudge against her boyfriend's brother and reassured him that it was fine and she was just happy to have him back, so to speak.

However, the one thing that was annoying normal about having Ed back was that Ed and Winry most definitely were not together. In fact, they seemed to have done a total 180 back to exactly how they acted at the beginning of the year with small glances and little blushes but nothing beyond.

To everyone's disappointment, neither would speak about what had occurred between them on the day that Winry convinced Ed to come back, no matter how much everyone pestered them about it. Instead, they opted to change the subject whenever the topic was brought up or pretend like they didn't hear the question. Still, their friends were ruthless and continued to keep up the questioning.

At least until Riza finally got so fed up with it that she forbade anyone from talking about it. It didn't matter that she wasn't the president or even the vice president of the student council, no one tried to defy her when she got that way.

Later, she admitted to Ella that really it wasn't that she was tired of hearing all the questions, it was more that she knew what had occurred between Ed and Winry that day was private, and they would tell them about it when the right time came. Ella understood and agreed with Riza's actions, only wishing that she had the strength to have done something of the sort earlier.

As for why Ed and Winry had gone back to acting like idiots, well, Winry just figured that Ed knew she liked him and if he felt the same he might do something. Overall, she felt a tad broken hearted at the respect that he hadn't, but figured having Ed for a friend was better than not having him at all like before.

On the other hand, Ed refused to act on his feelings for much bigger reasons. He knew he had hurt Winry when he had tried to cut himself out of all his friends' lives. He knew things weren't the same anymore and he had really messed up big time. Now, he didn't know how to fix it, and by the way Winry was acting towards him, it appeared that she had gotten over liking him, if she ever had in the first place. He refused to force her into anything and would not make things more complicated for her by acting on his feelings.

And of course everyone else was completely fed up with the lack of relationship between the two, after they had worked so hard to get Ed back. Even Riza, miss tolerant, was starting to get impatient with them. Thankfully, it appeared that Roy and Hughes were already working on another plan, and as much as she disapproved and tried to stop them at first, they simply reminded her that the last plan had gone quite smoothly.

Having no good response for that, Riza had simply decided to ignore any plans going on during study hall hour. At this point, she figured, anything they did couldn't make the situation between Ed and Winry much worse.

It was a simply task really. Now that it was the end of the year there was a lot to be done for the Council and there was hardly an idle moment during the hour they spent on paperwork. Everything had to be due two weeks before school ended, so things were hectic and most the time, at least three members had to stay late after school to finish up some assignment or another. At least there was no more alchemy team practice anymore, giving the members a bit more time for Student Council.

It was a Thursday when everything was due. There was no more paperwork, but the whole group was still busy running things around the school and triple checking that everything was in the right place. When the bell finally rang for them to go to their next class, the group couldn't help but cheer and feel as if a gigantic weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Roy and Maes glanced at each other knowingly. The plan would start the next day.

Seeing as that they had been working so hard for weeks on end, the last two weeks of school in student council, they were allowed to have an off period. As it was 7th period and many of them had no class 8th period, they would have been allowed to leave early but the group had decided not to do so, knowing that the next year they would all be split up between different universities and some would still remain at high school. It truly was their last chance to really hang out before they got swept up in the craziness of summer.

Therefore, the next day they all brought food and had a party during 7th period. Just food laughs and fun. It was then that Mustang and Hughes cornered Ed when all the girls were off giggling about something.

"So, what are your plans this summer Ed?" Roy asked smoothly putting his arm around Ed's shoulders.

Ed shrugged it off and glared at the two before answering, though neither seemed affected by either action. Ed had admitted to himself that without their plan, they had confessed to the whole thing later, he would have been much worse off but that didn't mean he had forgiven them yet for tying up and locking Winry in a closet. "I figure I'll be at the library most of the time researching colleges and I'll probably get a job."

"No girls?" Maes asked disappointment quite obvious.

A quick glance to where Ella, Riza, and Winry were talking, told Ed's whole story. "No," Ed answered back fairly weakly.

"No Winry?" Mustang said smugly.

Disappointingly, Ed simply shook his head no calmly and replied, "We're not like that."

"Funny," Roy mused, "That's what you've always said, that is until we caught you two kissing."

Ed practically flinched at the memory. Something which should have been one of his happiest memories, now only brought him regret as he once again thought of everything he had lost with his rash actions. He was such a dumbass.

"Look Ed," Maes started in knowing better than to kick a guy while he was down, "we see how you still look at Winry and know you love her, so why don't you two just get back together again?"

Sighing, Ed explained, "I do still like her," he didn't think he could ever admit to the guy's faces that he was pretty sure he loved her, "but I hurt her, a lot… and it's just gonna take time to get back to where we were, if we ever do."

Roy immediately slapped Ed upside the head.

"What the hell!"

Everyone looked over to see a pissed off Ed glaring at Roy who seemed a bit irked himself. Seeing that them being in such positions was a relatively normal thing, they all continued on with their conversations ignoring the three boys. Though Al looked slightly more worried than normal, and Maes couldn't help but notice how Winry's eyes lingered just a moment longer than necessary on Ed before turning back to her conversation with the other girls.

"What the hell," Ed hissed again the moment all eyes were off them.

"You're an idiot, you know that," Mustang said so evenly that Ed knew he was completely serious. Seeing Ed's confused expression, he continued on. "It's two weeks till summer, do you have any idea what happens in the summer before your senior year?"

Based on Ed's continuing befuddled face, Maes jumped in to explain. "Parties, and lots of them."

"And do you know what happens at parties Ed?" Mustang asked sweetly.

Ed's first thoughts were of earlier that year when Winry had managed to get extremely drunk at that New Year's party and confessed to him so to speak with a drunken kiss. "Drinking?" he guessed automatically.

"No you dope, people meet and hook up," Roy said sighing at Ed's lack of common sense at times.

Ed merely rolled his eyes trying not to let what Mustang and Hughes was saying bother him. "Oh come on, Winry is hardly the type to party in the first place, much less hook up with someone at a party."

"Oh yeah?" Maes said challengingly, surprising Ed that it wasn't Mustang to get the first voice edgewise in. "How do you think I met Gracia, and she's hardly the partying type obviously."

Still trying to comprehend just what Maes had just said and how it affected him, Ed stayed silent letting Mustang continue on to the point. "Anything can happen over the summer Ed, get her while you can."

And with that the two of them proceeded to leave Ed alone to his thoughts.

Truth be told, whenever Ed ever imagined his future, Winry was always in it and always as someone as more than a friend. Yes, he had hurt her, but he also knew that Winry would eventually forgive him for that, if she hadn't already. He saw her as the girl for him, as corny as that sounded. There were no huge declarations, from his point of view at least, just him and her and life.

It just was one of those unexplainable things, something that had to be felt, not explained.

But now something was threatening this idea. Summer. Was it really like Roy and Maes made it sound? If it had only been Mustang he wouldn't have listened to a word that he was saying, but Hughes made him a bit more inclined to believe it.

What if Winry met someone this summer and fell in love with him? He would stand no chance after hurting her so badly. But on the other side of the argument, would rushing things with him and Winry really help their relationship, or only ruin it?

Suddenly, it seemed as if everything just got a lot more complicated. And it didn't help that he had only a time limit of two weeks to figure it out.

* * *

When one is worried about something, two weeks can seem like a very long time and at the same time it always will pass much quicker than expected. And it didn't help Ed that Hughes and Mustang were constantly on his case about asking out Winry again.

So when the last day of school finally rolled around, Ed's nerves were completely fried. So far, no solution to his dilemma seemed to be apparent. He was starting to think along the lines of asking out Winry again though, and the only problem besides worrying about it being too soon, was that he didn't have a clue about how to go about it. Hell, it wasn't like he even knew for sure she would say yes this time, unlike last time when they had practically already been dating when he was going to ask her.

In all actuality, he knew that he was probably going to chicken out of asking Winry and just take his chances with the summer.

At least, that was his plan until he overheard Riza and Roy talking during the passing period before 7th period.

"Look, no matter what you say I'm still going abroad this summer with my uncle. He's paying for the trip and it will be good experience for me before I head off to college," Mustang argued.

Riza just rolled her eyes. Over the past few days they had been having the same argument about Roy going on this all expense overseas paid trip with his irresponsible uncle, who frankly Riza didn't trust in the least. "You just want to see how many girls you can pick up while in a foreign country," she dryly remarked.

Mustang only smirked, "Anything can happen in just one summer."

Rolling her eyes, Riza replied, "Yes anything can, just see that you don't break some poor girl's heart and I have to clean up you mess."

Ed didn't hear the rest of the conversation between the two. He was too busy rushing out of the Student Council room trying to find Winry while thinking about what Riza had just said. Even if Riza had just made a side comment to anything happening during the summer, Ed knew that she meant it if she said it. Suddenly, summer vacation was feeling a lot more ominous then before.

He had to find Winry. Had to. And then… and then what? He'd just ask her out all nonchalantly? Yeah right. Hell, he was terrible at this kind of thing… but it's for Winry. Then again, maybe a couple weeks of summer and then things would have blown over a bit more and she wouldn't have time to meet someone new. But then there were graduation parties and…

He stopped suddenly with people rushing around him giving him looks of confusion and annoyance that he was blocking the middle of the hall. It was Winry, she looked just as she normally did yet she still managed to catch his entire attention. It wasn't even like she was looking at him, she was just walking and talking to Ella as they were obviously were heading towards the student council room. His throat suddenly felt dry and any plausible words of greeting flew from his brain in an instant.

Giggling and talking together, Winry, Ella, and Al hadn't even seemed to notice him. It wasn't until Ella tripped and Ed leapt forward to keep her from falling to the floor that his presence was revealed.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as he helped Ella get her footing again.

"Thanks Ed," Ella commented quickly after Al's greeting as she held tightly to her boyfriend's arm. "You've saved me from one of the million bruises I obtain in a normal day." Knowing that Ella was serious and yet still laughing at herself, the rest of the group couldn't help but smile along with her and continue walking toward the student council room.

"So what are you doing over here Ed?" Winry asked grinning at him trying not to give away how curious she really was about his answer.

Without missing a beat, Ed replied, "Just got bored waiting for people in the classroom and figured I'd come find you all instead." The explanation was easily accepted by Ed's friends and they continued on their way without further questioning, much to his relief.

Ed couldn't even concentrate on what they were talking about as they all walked. He was nervous, more than nervous. He was an absolute wreck, or he would have been if he had let it show on the outside. As it was, his mind was only whirling once again making the same original arguments it had been for the last few weeks. Thankfully for Ed, the other three seemed to be talking about the class they had just come from and it wasn't asked to join in because it looked like he was listening contently enough.

Just as they walked in the classroom door, the bell rang and the final party of the year started. Well, it wasn't as much of a party as just sitting and talking with everyone one final time before the summer started, at least for the seniors who would be leaving after this class having an off period for their last class. Winry immediately was whisked off to talk to Riza and Ella having this be their last "girl time" together in high school, while Ed was drawn into a conversation with his brother, Roy and Maes who were talking more about the summer than about what was going to happen next year. All in all, it wasn't that different from the last few weeks of how the class had been.

However despite him just being a Junior, Ed was beginning to get even more antsy than before with all the goodbyes between friends especially as the period began to draw to a close. It seemed like with every passing minute his chances with Winry were slipping right before his eyes even if they did have their last period together.

He couldn't even remember what he had done the entire period when the bell finally rang. He almost felt bad for seemingly ignoring all the seniors, yet they seemed to get something was wrong with E and didn't seem too annoyed. Well, Roy was but if Ed had to guess it wasn't because Ed hadn't listened to him droning on about the trip he was taking this summer, but because he still hadn't fixed the Winry situation. He was going to do something about it right now though.

"Hey Winry!" Ed called out just as she gave Riza one last hug.

Hearing Ed's voice, the older girl quickly whispered in Winry's ear, "Don't give up on him yet," before pulling away and walking away with 'that look' on her face, the look that said 'I know what you want and if you seriously don't do the right thing I'll be pissed at you forever.'

"What was that about?" Ed asked startling Winry slightly with his sudden closeness to her. It wasn't so much that having Ed close was a surprise, after all, they had practically made out before. It was having him this close when things had been so tense between the two lately.

Of all the things Ed did to show Winry he didn't care for her anymore, not ever coming as close as he had before was one of them. It had seemed like to her that he always wanted an invisible two foot wall between the two of them, and she had taken the hint and let him have his space, not realizing that he had just been doing the same for her.

"What was what about?" Winry asked automatically as she started towards the door figuring they could just walk to class.

"Wait," Winry's felt Ed suddenly grab her hand and stop her from taking a single step farther. His face was slightly contorted in an effort to come up with the correct thing to say and in the end, it still wasn't perfect, but it was Ed. "I need to talk to you… here, without anyone else, in private."

It was awkward, or at least it would have been for anyone besides Winry. She just found it amusing and dare she say… cute?

"Sure thing," she replied trying not to hope, but her heart overruled her brain as she felt it speed up in anticipation. "I just don't want to be late to class," she added without thought only to feel extremely dumb right after.

"Oh, yeah of course," Ed said awkwardly as he shuffled his feet on the ground nervously. A silence fell between the two and Winry took the chance to try and calm her heart down, only to have Ed look up at her straight in the eye and her practically gasp at his steady and strong gaze.

Forgetting everything about calming herself down, Winry's senses went into overdrive as Ed took a step towards her without breaking eye contact, and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. For a moment his hand lingered and began to draw down her face gently caressing her skin, only to have him realize just what he was doing and snatch his hand quickly back.

"I-I," Ed stammered almost uncomfortable under Winry's heavy gaze that was unreadable.

"Yes?" she prompted him wanting to take a step forward but forcing herself to stay exactly where she was.

Ed broke their gaze cursing lightly under his breath. Winry might have scolded him, had she not wanted to get him off topic from whatever he was thinking. "Winry, you know how bad I am at this sort of thing," Ed murmured just loud enough for her to catch.

"What kind of thing?" she asked slightly breathless as she finally gave in and began inching forward.

He looked at her with imploring eyes before letting out a small sigh and turning away but not moving.

Winry's heart immediately fell in disappointment. How could she have ever been so stupid to believe that Ed perhaps really did want her? How could she have been fooled so easily? Why had she dared to hope?! Why did she let her heart be broken so easily!!

Her throat clenched painfully as she looked down at her feet feeling more than betrayed. Trying to fight back tears, she was wondering how on earth she was going to get through her last class feeling like this and why Ed was still there.

For a moment neither of them moved, Ed still confused on how to act, and Winry trying to fight back tears. "Ed?" she practically whimpered clenching her fists at her side and knowing she needed to say something, when suddenly Ed's hands were cupping her face and his lips were kissing hers sweetly.

He didn't know what he was doing. All he knew was that he sucked at talking about stuff like this and if this was the only way he could tell her his feelings, then damn it, he was gonna do exactly that!

Ed hadn't even bothered to really think about it, if he had he probably would have chickened out. Instead he acted on his feelings and had turned back around and caught her in a kiss just trying to show Winry just how much he cared for her by first gently caressing her lips with his and when she responded positively he became much more fierce moving his hands down to her waist and pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

Winry's arms hadn't moved from her sides as she was overwhelmed with a thousand feelings rushing through her body. She was only able to grip Ed's arms firmly for some sort of balance as he pulled their bodies closer and closer together.

Her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to push back at Ed with her lips just as deep as he was with her. Her unused tears from before finally overflowed, and began streaming down her cheeks managing to hit Ed's nose along the way.

The moment something wet hit Ed's nose, he pulled away worried. His arms still encircled Winry's body and her hands clenched at his forearms, but Ed didn't see any of that. He only saw the tears in and overflowing from Winry's eyes, tears that shouldn't have been present.

He was hurting her. It was the only logical excuse for tears from Winry again. She didn't want him, and here he was forcing himself upon her like an animal. His eyes widened in fear staring at his best friend feeling as if he had just done the stupidest thing ever. Hell to what Maes, Roy, and even his brother had said. Winry didn't like him like that anymore.

She was fucking crying!

"Sorry," he said breathlessly before turning on heel and getting out of there as fast as possible.

Winry just stood there for a moment trying to process just what had happened. Things had seemed just fine, so why on earth was Ed apologizing and running away for? He didn't honestly think he had done something wrong… did he?

Self-consciously, Winry wiped at her tears trying to keep her breathing steady and figure out just what was the meaning behind what Ed had just done. It wasn't as if she had pulled away from his kiss. Sure she had been a bit slow to respond but she had kissed him back.

She began walking towards the door slowly as she rubbed her eyes trying to rid them of the rest of the tears that had formed in them. Suddenly, she froze.

He didn't think…

Ed was such an idiot!

And with that thought in mind, Winry took off running knowing she had to talk to Ed before their last class.

Bursting out into the hallway, Winry found herself surrounded by the tons of students of her school all making their way to class as slowly and as relaxed as possible, which annoyed the shit out of her seeing at she needed to find Ed and she needed to find him fast.

Dodging in and out of people, Winry didn't even bother stopping to apologizing for the slight shoves she was giving people and didn't say a word as she pushed through Breada and Fuery instead ignoring their protests. She had to get to the Mechanics classroom where she could talk to him before class!

"Winry! Winry! Winry!" she heard someone yell behind her, and she got the feeling it was Ella but figured the girl could wait with whatever she needed to say.

"WINRY!!!" Roy's voice suddenly cut through the hustle and bustle of the hallway chatter.

She practically skidded to a stop on pure instinct, "What!"

If she had been able to comprehend anything besides Ed's location and talking to him, she might have noticed that the entire hall was pretty much silent in confusion at their student council officers yelling back and forth across them. As it was, Winry didn't notice the many eyes staring at her in confusion.

"Ed went that way," Mustang pointed in the opposite direction of where Winry was heading. With a quick sigh, she began running back as he continued, "I think he went to the bathroom over by the math classrooms."

"Thanks," she said whirling by Roy and shooting him a quick smile.

"What was that about?" Havoc asked as him and the rest of the ex-student council gathered around their president.

"Ed came out running and Winry followed going just as fast!" Ella exclaimed practically bouncing up and down smiling in excitement as Al tried to calm his girlfriend down, though he couldn't stop smiling either.

"We figure something finally happened again between the two," Riza added clarifying Ella's ramblings.

"Well, what are we waiting for, an invitation? After them!" Maes exclaimed causing the entire group to quickly make its way after Winry.

Meanwhile, as the passing period was drawing to a close and as more and more students cleared the halls, Winry was able to move much quicker and within half a minute she found herself at the boys' bathroom that Mustang had mentioned and she didn't even hesitate to slam open the door with a loud bang causing Ed to shoot up from where he had been leaning on a sink obviously trying to get his mind all straightened out.

"Edward Elric!" she barked out before closing the distance between them in about two steps. He looked completely stunned as she continued yelling at him, "You are such an idiot!"

"Look Winry, about the kiss I'm so-"

"Don't you dare say it again," she snapped cutting him off quite effectively and making Ed cringe as well. He looked as if he was ready to take a beating and frankly, Winry found it adorable strangely enough. She was still annoyed though, so slowly, she crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and sighed audibly. "Do you even know what I'm mad at you for?"

Ed thought it was quite apparent what Winry was mad at him for however, if she was asking him such a question directly it obviously wasn't as clear as he had thought. Still, there was only one answer he knew. "For kissing you." He looked straight into her eyes as he said it daring her to say otherwise.

Winry looked furious and quickly the space between them closed as she raised her hand up as if to slap Ed. He didn't move, only closed his eyes to prepare for the contact. Winry could hit hard, and he wasn't going to get out of this until he just let her hit him as much as she wanted, so basically he was stuck.

But instead of feeling any pain, he just felt a small pressure against his lips. His eyes shot open in surprise to see Winry's closed eyes as she kissed him sweetly. It was just a peck, but Ed was completely dumbfounded as Winry pulled away and just smiled.

"You're a fool," she said playing with the little hairs on the back of his neck. "I wasn't mad at you for the kiss," ducking her head down she continued in slight embarrassment. "I love your kisses."

Ed's cheeks immediately heated up and he felt confused at all these mixed signals Winry was giving him. By far, girls were much more confusing than guys.

Shuffling her feet slightly, Winry had the nerve to look back up at Ed straight in the eyes. "I was mad at you for apologizing afterwards. I never want you to say you're sorry for kissing me again, and if you do…" She left the threat hanging knowing that Ed could figure out the gist of her words.

"So… you do still like me then?" Ed asked suddenly feeling very courageous.

"I chased you into a boys' bathroom and practically made out with you, what do you think?"

"I think I'd like you to be my girlfriend, officially," Ed said smiling as he wrapped his arms around her once again.

Winry beamed, she hadn't really thought of what to expect from Ed, but him actually and finally asking her out hadn't even been close to her wildest dreams.

"Yes!" she squealed almost knocking over as she pulled him back down to kiss her again. This time, there was no doubt on either side and neither was in any hurry to pull away from the other.

Had it not been for the bell ringing, neither probably would have left that bathroom for quite a while. But it ringing did certainly wake both of them up as they realized that they did indeed have one more class before they could proceed with their current activities.

"You can come over after school right?" Winry asked as Ed clasped his hand with hers.

"Of course, and we can finish right where we left off," Ed added blushing slightly at his own words.

Winry smiled dreamily and said, "Yeah," before giving Ed one last peck before they headed out of the bathroom together.

Opening the door, it should have been no surprise to them that the entire student council was standing right outside the bathroom arguing.

"I say we go in and see just what's happening!" Breada and Havoc were yelling.

Ella was blushing at the very idea of going into a boys' restroom.

Al appeared to be discussing with Roy and Maes the best way time for them to enter and how long they should wait while Gracia stood worriedly beside them obviously unsure if this was truly the best course of action.

Fuery was trying to put his two cents in saying that perhaps they shouldn't go in at all and let the two have some privacy.

Armstrong was agreeing full-heartedly with Fuery and making it much harder for the nerdy boy to make a case by distracting anyone who might have listened with his super poses.

Falman was just shaking his head at all the chaos.

And Riza, she was simply watching the bathroom door waiting for the two to come out.

Seeing their joined hands and slight blushes, Riza could easily figure out what happened. "This time you made it official right?" she asked already grinning slightly at the two.

Feeling like being dramatic, Winry immediately grabbed Ed's shirt and tugged him down so that she could kiss him deeply in front of everyone. Ed was more that surprised but didn't object in the least and only kissed her back just as forcefully. It was the whistles and catcalls from their friends that finally made the two separate, Ed much more flustered than Winry.

"That official enough for you?" Winry managed to ask smugly.

"Awwww! You two are so cute!" Ella squealed rushing forward to give them both quick hugs.

Pulling out a small notebook Maes said very matter-of-factly, "Well, since they are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, we can now commence with the bet. So who was the closest to getting the date right? Does anybody have any clue?"

"Bet?" Ed said half listening in and half listening to his brother lecture him about being a good boyfriend.

"I think it was Falman," Fuery piped up. "Didn't he say the last day of school as his day exactly?"

"I believe I did," Falman said as a small smug smile spread across his face.

"Did they bet on when we'd get together?" Winry asked Ed, also eavesdropping on the boy's conversation.

"Yeah," Maes said finding the page that held dates and names of practically the entire student council. "Says right here that Falman actually guessed this exact date so everybody fess up your ten bucks for him."

Within seconds, Falman was about fifty bucks richer and all others were thinking about their loss of lunch for the day.

"Should I be made and stop them from completing this bet?" Ed whispered in Winry's ear as he hugged her from behind.

For a moment Winry completed whether it was worth the trouble, "Naw, let them have their fun," she grabbed Ed's hand and started pulling him to class. Sure they were late but that was better than skipping completely and getting in major trouble.

Waving to their friends, the two of them made their way to class still clasping hands. "Besides, I'm sure you'll bet on when Riza and Roy will get together someday," Winry added as an afterthought to reasons to not get mad at the other boys.

"Wait, you're saying that Mustang and Hawkeye have a thing for each other?"

"Really Ed," Winry exclaimed smiling brightly. "You're just now noticing this?"

Ed frowned slightly, "Well how was I supposed to know that? I was a bit preoccupied with you and me."

Winry smiled and tugged gently on Ed's arm so that they were walking a bit closer together and their hands intertwined. Quickly, Winry gave Ed a peck on the cheek as they continued walking.

"What was that for? Not that I'm complaining or anything," Ed asked and clarified confused by Winry's actions.

"Just you being sweet," Winry answered.

"Ooooookay, I'll take your word for it cause I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"Don't worry about it Ed," Winry said shaking her head incredulously.

"I won't, but I do want to know more about this Hawkeye Mustang thing. Like when did that happen?"

"It's been happening for a while now, _you_ just didn't notice it," She replied back teasing.

"Well then you better inform me of everything so that I can help," Ed said smiling at what he had in mind.

"Help with what?"

"Help with getting the two of them together of course, I mean they messed with our lives obviously, so now it's our chance to do the same to theirs."

Winry smiled, "You're on!"

* * *

Wow! I can't believe it's over! It's unbelievable! This was my first long story that I wrote, and I'm quite proud of it.

Anyway, announcements:

Sequel- will be called Flame University (FU… lol!). Please do not take my title. I won't be starting for a while sadly because of college being crazy in taking up all my time. However, if you are bored and want to read more EdxWinry, then feel free to check out Dried Blood on my shared account with Freyjadour called Abulia Nomen (there's a link on my profile), or any of my other fics in my profile.

Thanks so much for all the support. Keep writing!

Over and out!

FFG


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